Guide to OSHA for small businesses in North Carolina

A Guide to OSHA for
Small Businesses in
North Carolina
N. C. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Division
1101 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699- 1101
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
41
N. C. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Program
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
OSHA State Plan Designee
Allen McNeely
Deputy Commissioner for Safety and Health
Kevin Beauregard
Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Safety and Health
Ed Lewis
Reviewer
Acknowledgment
This guide is based upon the OSHA Handbook for Small Businesses, published by the U. S. Department of
Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, with changes to reflect the OSHA program in North
Carolina. The information in this guide was reviewed in 2007 with no changes.
This guide is intended to be consistent with all existing OSHA standards; therefore, if an area is considered by
the reader to be inconsistent with a standard, then the OSHA standard should be followed.
To obtain additional copies of this guide, or if you have questions about N. C. occupational safety and health standards or
rules, please contact:
N. C. Department of Labor
Education, Training and Technical Assistance Bureau
1101 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699- 1101
Phone: ( 919) 807- 2875 or 1- 800- NC- LABOR ( 1- 800- 625- 2267)
____________________
Additional sources of information are listed on the inside back cover of this guide.
____________________
The projected cost of the NCDOL OSH program for federal fiscal year 2007– 2008 is $ 16,143,161. Federal funding provides approximately 32 percent ($ 5,180,570) of
this fund.
Reviewed 8/ 07
Contents
Part Page
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1iiv
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ivi1
2 A Four- Point Workplace Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii13
3 Starting Your Voluntary Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii17
4 Self- Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii11
Self- Inspection Checklists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii13
5 Assistance in Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii32
Overall Action Plan Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii37
iii
v
North Carolina is a state built on the success of its
small businesses. From the small manufacturing plants
located along our mountain roads to the restaurants lining
our beaches, small business owners and workers build
North Carolina’s economic backbone.
No one doubts that small business employers often
face special challenges in dealing with workplace safety
and health hazards. Unlike large corporations, which can
afford to hire full- time safety engineers and industrial
hygienists, small businesses usually must rely on consul-tants,
workshops and other methods to meet their safety
goals.
This is why the N. C. Department of Labor has created
this publication— to help small business employers
establish their own safety and health programs. This
booklet advises employers on how to manage safety and
health protection at their own worksites and explains
how to obtain free, on- site consultative visits by safety
and health professionals.
In North Carolina, the N. C. Department of Labor
enforces the federal Occupational Safety and Health
Act. NCDOL offers many educational programs to the
public and produces publications to help inform people
about their rights and responsibilities regarding occupa-tional
safety and health.
When reading this guide, please remember the mis-sion
of the N. C. Department of Labor is greater than just
regulatory enforcement. An equally important goal is to
help citizens find ways to create safe workplaces.
Everyone profits when managers and employees work
together for safety. Using A Guide to OSHA for Small
Businesses in North Carolina is a great place to start.
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
Foreword
A Profit and Loss Statement
As a small business owner, you are characteristically
a risk taker. You wager your business acumen against
larger, perhaps more heavily financed corporate groups
and other free- spirited, self- employed individuals like
yourself. Excitement and challenge are the natural
elements in such a venture. But to succeed, you need
good management information, an ability to be a good
manager of people, and the intelligence and inner strength
both to make decisions and to make the right decisions.
Thousands of workers die each year, and many, many
more suffer injury or illness from conditions at work. But
how often does an owner or manager like you actually see
or even hear about work- related deaths, serious injuries or
illnesses in the businesses with which you are familiar?
How often has your business actually sustained this type
of loss?
In most small businesses, the answer is rarely. For this
reason, many owners/ managers do not understand why
there is controversy about OSHA, job safety and health
standards, inspections, citations, etc.
But others have learned why. Unfortunately, they have
had to go through the kind of loss we are talking about.
And these owners/ managers will tell you that it is too late
to do anything once a serious accident happens. They now
know that prevention is the only real way to avoid this
loss.
Reducing all losses is a goal that you as an owner or
manager clearly share with us in the NCDOL’s Occupa-tional
Safety and Health Division ( OSH). Each of us may
see this goal in a slightly different light, but it remains our
common intent.
We have learned from small employers, like you, that
you place a high value on the health and well- being of your
employees. Like many small businesses, you probably
employ family members and personal acquaintances. And,
if you don’t know your employees before they are hired,
then chances are that the very size of your workgroup and
workplace will promote the closeness and concern for one
another that small businesses value.
Assuming that your commitment to safe and healthful
work practices is a given ingredient, we in OSH want to
work with you to prevent all losses. We believe that when
you make job safety and health a real part of your every-day
operations, you cannot lose in the long run.
Successful safety and health activity now will enable
you to avoid possible losses in the future.
Developing a Profitable Strategy
for Handling Occupational Safety
and Health
Many people confuse the idea of “ accidents” with the
notion of acts of God. The difference is clear. Floods and
tornadoes cannot be prevented by the owner or manager
of a small business. But workplace accidents can be pre-vented.
Nobody wants accidents to happen in his or her busi-ness.
A serious fire or the death of an employee or an
owner can cause the loss of a great amount of profit or, in
some cases, even an entire business. To prevent such loss-es,
you don’t have to turn your place upside down. You
may not have to spend a lot of money either. You may
only need to use good business sense and to apply recog-nized
prevention principles.
There are reasons why accidents happen. Something
goes wrong somewhere. It may take some thought, and
maybe the help of friends or other trained people, to
figure out what went wrong, but there will be a cause— a
reason why. Once you know the cause, it is possible to
prevent an accident. You need some basic facts and
perhaps some help from others who know some of the
answers already. You also need a plan— a plan for
preventing accidents.
Not all danger at your worksite depends on an accident
to cause harm, of course. Worker exposure to toxic chem-icals
or harmful levels of noise or radiation may happen
in conjunction with routine work as well as by accident.
You may not realize the extent of the exposure on the part
of you and/ or your employees or the harm that may result.
The effect may not appear immediately, but it may be
fatal in the long run. You need a plan that includes pre-vention
of these “ health hazard exposures” as well as
accidents. You need a safety and health protection plan.
It is not a difficult task to develop such a plan.
Basically, you only need to concern yourself with those
types of accidents and health hazard exposures that could
happen in your workplace.
Because each workplace is different, your program
may be different from one that your neighbor or your
1
1.
Introduction
competitor might use. But this is not important. You want
it to reflect your way of doing business, not theirs.
While the details may vary, there are four basic
elements that are always found in workplaces with a good
accident prevention program. They are:
1. The manager or management team leads the way,
especially by setting policy, assigning and support-ing
responsibility, setting an example, and
involving employees.
2. The worksite is continually analyzed to identify all
hazards and potential hazards.
3. Methods for preventing or controlling existing or
potential hazards are put in place and maintained.
4. Managers, supervisors and employees are trained to
understand and deal with worksite hazards.
Regardless of the size of your business, you should use
each of these elements to prevent workplace accidents
and possible injuries and illnesses.
Developing a workplace program following these four
points should lead you to do all the things needed to pro-tect
you and your workers’ safety and health. If you
already have a program, reviewing it in relation to these
elements should help you improve what you have.
If you follow it, this four- point approach to safety and
health protection in your business should also help you to
improve efficiency. It may help you reduce insurance
claims and other costs. While it does not guarantee com-plete
compliance with OSHA standards, the approach will
help you toward full compliance and beyond. It will cer-tainly
give you a way to express and document your good
faith.
This approach usually does not involve large costs.
Especially in smaller businesses, it generally does not
require additional employees. Usually it can be integrated
into your other business functions with modest effort on
your part.
The key to the success of this plan is to see it as a part
of your business operation and to see it reflected in all
your work. As you continue doing it, the program
becomes easier. It becomes built- in and then you need
only check on it periodically to be sure everything is
working well.
In part 2, we give short titles for each of the elements
and then give short descriptions and illustrations for each.
Since most employers, like you, are pressed for time,
these descriptions are capsules of information to assist
you in thinking through and getting started on your own
approach.
2
The four- point workplace program described here is
based upon the Safety and Health Management
Guidelines issued by federal OSHA on Jan. 26, 1989.
Although voluntary, these guidelines represent OSHA’s
policy on what every worksite should have in place to
protect workers from occupational hazards. The guide-lines
are based heavily on OSHA’s experience with the
Voluntary Protection Programs ( VPP). These voluntary
programs are designed to recognize and promote effective
safety and health management as the best means of ensur-ing
a safe and healthful workplace.
Using the Four- Point Program
As you go through this part and those that follow, we
encourage you to use the action plan form that you can
remove or duplicate from the back of this publication to
jot down the actions that you wish to take to help make
your workplace safer and more healthful for your employ-ees.
Noting those actions as you go along will make it
much easier for you to assemble the total plan you need.
Point One:
Management Commitment and Employee
Involvement.
As the owner or manager of a small business, your atti-tude
toward job safety and health will be reflected by
your employees. If you are not interested in preventing
employee injury and illness, nobody else is likely to be.
At all times, demonstrate your personal concern for
employee safety and health and the priority you place on
them in your workplace. Your policy must be clearly set.
Only you can show its importance through your own
actions.
Demonstrate to your employees the depth of your com-mitment
by involving them in planning and carrying out
your efforts. If you seriously involve your employees in
identifying and resolving safety and health problems, they
will commit their unique insights and energy to helping
achieve the objectives of your program.
Consider forming a joint employee- management safety
committee. This can assist you in starting a program and
will help maintain interest in the program once it is oper-ating.
Committees can be an excellent way of communi-cating
safety and health information. If you have few
employees, consider rotating them so that all can have an
active part in the safety and health programming. The
men and women who work for you are among the most
valuable assets you have. Their safety, health and good-will
are essential to the success of your business. Having
them cooperate with you in protecting their safety and
health not only helps to keep them healthy— it makes
your job easier.
As a small business employer, you have inherent
advantages, such as close contact with your employees, a
specific acquaintance with the problems of the whole
business, and usually a low worker turnover. Probably
you have already developed a personal relationship of
loyalty and cooperation that can be built up very easily.
These advantages may not only increase your concern for
your employees but also may make it easier to get their
help.
Here are some actions to take:
Post your own policy on the importance of worker
safety and health next to the N. C. Department of
Labor’s “ Notice to Employees” poster where all
employees can see it.
Hold a meeting with all your employees to commu-nicate
that policy to them and to discuss your objec-tives
for safety and health for the rest of the year.
( These objectives will result from the decisions you
make about changes you think are needed after you
finish reading this publication.)
Make sure that support from the top is visible by
taking an active part, personally, in the activities
that are part of your safety and health program. For
example, personally review all inspection and acci-dent
reports to ensure follow- up when needed.
Ensure that you, your managers and supervisors
follow all safety requirements that employees must
follow, even if you are only in their area briefly. If,
for instance, you require a hard hat, safety glasses
and/ or safety shoes in an area, wear them yourself
when you are in that area.
Use your employees’ special knowledge and help
them buy into the program by having them make
inspections, put on safety training and/ or help inves-tigate
accidents.
Make clear assignments of responsibility for every
part of the program that you develop. Make certain
everyone understands them. The more people
3
2.
A Four- Point Workplace Program
involved the better. A good rule of thumb is to
assign safety and health responsibilities in the same
way you assign production responsibilities. Make it
a special part of everyone’s job to operate safely.
That way, as you grow and disperse production
responsibilities more widely, you will disperse safe-ty
and health responsibilities with them.
Give those with responsibility enough people, on-the-
clock time, training, money and authority to get
the job done.
Do not forget about it after you make assignments:
make sure personally that they get the job done.
Recognize and reward those who do well and cor-rect
those who don’t.
Take time, at least annually, to review what you
have accomplished against what you set as your
objectives and decide if you need new objectives or
program revisions to get where you want to be.
Point Two:
Worksite Analysis
It is your responsibility to know what you have in your
workplace that could hurt your workers. Worksite analysis
is a group of processes that helps you make sure that you
know what you need to keep your workers safe. You may
need help in getting started with these processes. You can
call on the state Consultative Services Bureau for this
help. ( See the inside back cover for address and telephone
number.) Once you get everything set up, you or your
employees can do many of them.
Here are some actions to take:
Request a consultation visit from the Consultative
Services Bureau covering both safety and health to
get a full survey of the hazards that exist in your
workplace and those that could develop. ( You can
also contract for such services from expert private
consultants if you prefer.)
Set up a way to get expert help when you make
changes, to be sure that the changes are not intro-ducing
new hazards into your workplace. Also, find
ways to stay current on newly recognized hazards in
your industry.
Make an assignment ( maybe to teams that include
employees) to look carefully at each job from time
to time, taking it apart step- by- step to see if there
are any hidden hazards in the equipment or proce-dures.
Some training may be necessary at the start.
Set up a system of checking to make sure that your
hazard controls have not failed and that new hazards
have not appeared. This is usually done by routine
self- inspections. You can use the checklists in part 4
of this book as a starting point. Add items to them
that better fit your situation. Subtract from them
those items that do not fit your situation.
Provide a way for your employees to let you or
another member of management know when they
see things that look harmful to them and encourage
them to use it.
Learn how to do a thorough investigation when
things do go wrong and someone gets sick or hurt.
This will help you find ways to prevent recurrences.
Initially, take the time to look back over several years
of injury or illness experience to identify patterns that
can lead to further prevention. Thereafter, periodical-ly
look back over several months of experience to
determine if any new patters are developing.
Point Three:
Hazard Prevention and Control
Once you know what your hazards and potential haz-ards
are, you are ready to put in place the systems that
prevent or control those hazards. Your state consultant
can help you do this.
Whenever possible, you will want to eliminate those
hazards. Sometimes that can be done through substitution
of a less toxic material or through engineering controls
that can be built in. When you cannot eliminate hazards,
systems should be set up to control them.
Here are some actions to take:
Set up safe work procedures, based on the analysis
of the hazards in your employees’ jobs ( discussed
above), and make sure that the employees doing
each job understand the procedures and follow
them. This may be easier if employees are involved
in the analysis that results in those procedures.
Be ready, if necessary, to enforce the rules for safe
work procedures by asking your employees to help
you set up a disciplinary system that will be fair and
understood by everyone.
Where necessary to protect your employees, provide
personal protective equipment ( PPE) and be sure
your employees know why they need it, how to use
it and how to maintain it.
Provide for regular equipment maintenance to pre-vent
breakdowns that can create hazards.
Plan for emergencies, including fire and natural dis-asters,
and drill everyone frequently enough so that
if the real thing happens, everyone will know what
to do even under stressful conditions.
4
Ask your state consultant to help you develop a
medical program that fits your worksite and
involves nearby doctors and emergency facilities.
Invite these medical personnel to visit the plant
before emergencies occur to help you plan the best
way to avoid injuries and illness during emergency
situations.
You must ensure the ready availability of medical
personnel for advice and consultation on matters of
employee health. This does not mean that you
must provide health care. But, if health problems
develop in your workplace, you are expected to get
medical help to treat them and their causes.
To fulfill the above requirements, consider the following:
You should have an emergency medical procedure
for handling injuries, transporting ill or injured
workers, and notifying medical facilities with a
minimum of confusion. Posting emergency numbers
is a good idea.
Survey the medical facilities near your place of
business and make arrangements for them to handle
routine and emergency cases. Cooperative agree-ments
could possibly be made with nearby larger
plants that have medical personnel and/ or facilities
on site.
You should have a procedure for reporting injuries
and illnesses that is understood by all employees.
If your business is remote from medical facilities,
you are required to ensure that one or more people
be adequately trained and available to render first
aid. Adequate first aid supplies must be readily
available for emergency use. Arrangements for this
training can be made through your local Red Cross
chapter, your insurance carrier, your local safety
council and others.
You should check battery charging stations, mainte-nance
operations, laboratories, heating and ventilat-ing
operations, and any corrosive materials areas to
make sure you have the required eye wash facilities
and showers.
Consider retaining a local doctor or an occupational
health nurse on a part- time or as- used basis to
advise you in your medical and first aid planning
Point Four:
Training for Employees, Supervisors and
Managers
An effective accident prevention program requires
proper job performance from everyone in the workplace.
As an owner or manager, you must ensure that all
employees know about the materials and equipment they
work with, what known hazards are in the operation, and
how you are controlling the hazards.
Each employee needs to know the following:
No employee is expected to undertake a job until he
or she has received job instructions on how to do it
properly and has been authorized to perform that
job.
No employee should undertake a job that appears
unsafe.
You may be able to combine safety and health training
with other training that you do, depending upon the kinds
of potential and existing hazards that you have. With
training, the “ proof is in the pudding” in that the result
that you want is all employees knowing what they need to
know to keep themselves and their fellow workers safe
and healthy.
Here are some actions to take:
Ask your state consultant to recommend training for
your worksite. The consultant may be able to do
some of the training while he or she is there.
Make sure you have trained your employees on
every potential hazard that they could be exposed to
and how to protect themselves. Then verify that they
really understand what you taught them.
Pay particular attention to your new employees and
to old employees who are moving to new jobs.
Because they are learning new operations, they are
more likely to get hurt.
Make sure that you train your supervisors to know
all the hazards that face the people they supervise
and how to reinforce training with quick reminders
and refreshers, and with disciplinary action if neces-sary.
Verify that they know what is expected of
them.
Make sure that you and your top management staff
understand all of your responsibilities and how to
hold subordinate supervisory employees account-able
for theirs.
Documenting Your Activities
Document your activities in all elements of the four-point
workplace program. Essential records, including
those legally required for workers’ compensation,
insurance audits and government inspections, must be
maintained as long as the actual need exists. Keeping
records of your activities, such as policy statements,
5
training sessions for management and employees safety
and health meetings held, information distributed to
employees, and medical arrangements made, is greatly
encouraged. Maintaining essential records also will aid:
1. The demonstration of sound business management
as supporting proof for credit applications, for
showing “ good faith” in reducing any proposed
penalties from OSH inspections, for insurance
audits and others; and
2. The efficient review of your current safety and
health activities for better control of your opera-tions
and to plan improvements.
Safety and Health Recordkeeping
Records of sales, costs, profits and losses are essential
to all successful businesses. They enable the owner or
manager to learn from experience and to make corrections
for future operations. Records of accidents, related
injuries, illnesses and property losses can serve the same
purpose, if they are used the same way. The sole purpose
of OSHA recordkeeping is to store factual information
about certain accidents that have happened. When the
facts have been determined, causes can often be identi-fied,
and control procedures can be instituted to prevent
similar occurrences from happening.
Injury/ Illness Records
There are injury/ illness recordkeeping requirements,
addressed in Part 1904 ( Recording and Reporting
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses), to cover OSHA
standards that require a minimum of paperwork. OSHA
issued a revised rule to improve the system that employers
use to track and record workplace injuries and illnesses.
The final rule became effective Jan. 1, 2002. The OSHA
Form 200 was replaced in the new rule. Three updated
recordkeeping forms were developed and are now in effect
as follows: The new OSHA Form 300 ( Log of Work-
Related Injuries and Illnesses) has been simplified and can
be printed on smaller legal- sized paper. The new OSHA
Form 301 ( Injury and Illness Incident Report) includes
more data about how the injury or illness occurred. The
new OSHA Form 300A ( Summary of Work- Related
Injuries and Illnesses) provides additional data to make it
easier for employers to calculate incidence rates.
Maintaining these records will provide you with one mea-sure
for evaluating the success of your safety and health
activities. Success would generally mean a lack of, or a
reduced number of, employee injuries and illnesses during
a calendar year.
There are five important steps required by the OSHA
recordkeeping system:
1. Obtain a report on every injury requiring medical
treatment ( other than first aid).
2. Record each injury on the OSHA 300 Log accord-ing
to the instructions provided.
3. Prepare a supplementary record of occupational
injuries and illnesses for recordable cases either on
OSHA Form No. 101 or on workers’ compensation
reports giving the same information.
4. Every year, prepare the annual summary ( OSHA
300 Log); post it no later than Feb. 1, and keep it
posted until April 30 ( ref. 1904.32). ( Next to the
N. C. Department of Labor’s workplace poster is a
good place to post it.)
5. Retain these records for at least five years.
During the year, periodically review the records to see
where injuries are occurring. Look for any patterns or
repeat situations. These records can help you to identify
high risk areas that demand your immediate attention.
Since the basic OSHA records include only injuries
and illnesses, you might consider expanding your own
system to include all incidents, including those where no
injury or illness resulted, if you think such information
would assist you in pinpointing unsafe conditions and/ or
procedures. Safety councils, insurance carriers and others
can assist you in instituting such a system.
Injury/ illness recordkeeping makes sense, and we rec-ommend
this practice to all employers. However, you
are not required to keep records under the OSHA injury/
illness recordkeeping system if you employ 10 or fewer
employees.
Regardless of the number of employees you have, you
may be selected for inclusion in an annual sample survey.
You will receive a letter directly from the N. C. Depart-ment
of Labor’s Research and Policy Division with
instructions if you are selected.
Exposure Records and Others
The injury/ illness records may not be the only records
you will need to maintain. Certain OSHA standards that
deal with toxic substances and hazardous exposures
require records on the exposure of employees, physical
examination reports, employment records, etc.
As you work on identifying hazards, you will be able
to determine whether these requirements apply to your
situation on a case- by- case basis. We mention it here so
that you will be aware of these records and that, if
required, they should be used with your control proce-dures
and with your self- inspection activity. They should
not be considered merely as bookkeeping.
6
7
You can use this basic action plan to get started on your
program.
To avoid confusion, we need to explain that this action
plan is not organized solely in the order of the four points
we described in part 2. Rather, it provides the most direct
route to getting yourself organized to complete your four-point
program.
When you have completed your action plan, your
activity should be organized around the four points
described in part 2.
Decide to Start Now
The time to start your safety and health program is now.
You have a better picture of what constitutes a good safety
and health program. Now you can address the practical
concerns of putting these elements together and coming up
with a program to suit your workplace.
Presumably you have been taking notes for your action
plan as you went through the preceding description of the
four- point program. You should be ready now to decide
exactly what you want to accomplish and to determine what
steps are necessary to achieve your goals. Then you will plan
how and when each step will be done and who will do it.
Your plan should consider your company’s immediate
needs and provide for ongoing, long- lasting worker protec-tion.
Once your plan is designed, it is important to follow
through and use it in the workplace. You will then have a
program to anticipate, identify and eliminate conditions or
practices that could result in injuries and illnesses.
If you have difficulty in deciding where to begin, a
phone call to the OSH Consultative Services Bureau will
get you the assistance you need. A state consultant will
survey your workplace for existing or potential hazards.
Then, if you request it, he or she will determine what you
need to make your safety and health program effective.
The consultant will work with you to develop a plan for
making these improvements and to establish procedures
for making sure that your program stays effective.
Whether you choose to work with a consultant or to
develop your program yourself, there are other publica-tions
similar to this one that spell out in greater detail the
steps you can take to create an effective safety and health
program for your workplace. The rewards for your efforts
will be a workplace with a high level of efficiency and
productivity and a low level of loss and injury.
Designating Responsibility
You must decide who in your company is the most
appropriate person to manage your safety and health
program. Who can be sure that the program will become
an integral part of the business? In many cases it will be
the owner. Sometimes it will be the plant manager or a
key supervisor. It could even be an engineer, personnel
specialist or other staff member.
You should choose someone who is as committed to
workplace safety and health as you are, who has the time
to devote to developing and managing the program, and
who is willing to take on the responsibility and account-ability
that goes with operating an effective program. The
success of your program hinges on the success of the
individual you choose, and he or she cannot succeed
without your full cooperation and support. Remember,
though, that even when you appoint someone as your
safety manager and delegate the authority to manage the
program, the ultimate responsibility for safety and health
in your workplace rests on you.
Having made your selection of a safety and health
manager, you or your designee and any others you choose
will need to take ( or be sure you have already taken) the
following actions.
Get Some Help on the Details
First, you may need to catch up with all the changes
made since the OSH Act became law in December 1970.
For example, the federal law contains provisions for
allowing a state to develop and operate its own occupa-tional
safety and health program in place of the federal
program. North Carolina has such an approved state plan
for occupational safety and health. The N. C. Department
of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is
charged with administering the state plan.
Second, you will need certain OSHA publications for
use in your safety and health activities:
1. OSHA workplace poster ( commonly called the
“ Notice to Employees” poster)— You must have the
state OSHA poster displayed in your workplace.
2. Standards that apply to your operations— You
need these standards for reference material in
your business. These are the regulations OSH
uses when inspecting for compliance with the act.
3.
Starting Your Voluntary Activity
8
These standards are the baseline for your own
inspections and are useful in determining what
specific changes need to be made when hazards
are identified. Most businesses come under the
North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health
Standards for General Industry, but if you are
involved with construction or maritime opera-tions,
you will need the standards that apply to
these classifications.
3. Recordkeeping requirements and the necessary
forms— You need these if you have 11 or more
employees. These forms are not too different from
other information forms you have been keeping for
workers’ compensation and other records.
4. Occupational Safety and Health Act of North
Carolina— You may want this for your own infor-mation
and reference in the future. ( See the inside
back cover of this publication for ordering informa-tion
regarding these publications.)
Clean Up Your Place of Business
Poor housekeeping is a major contributor to low morale
and sloppy work in general, even if it is not usually the
cause of major accidents. Most safety action programs
start with an intensive cleanup campaign in all areas of a
given business.
Get rid of rubbish that has collected; make sure proper
containers are provided; see that flammables are properly
stored; make sure that exits are not blocked; if necessary,
mark aisles and passageways; provide adequate lighting,
etc.
Get everyone involved and impress upon them exactly
what it is you want to do to make your workplace safer,
more healthful and more efficient.
Start Gathering Specific Facts
About Your Situation
Before you make any changes in your safety and health
operations, you will want to gather as much information
as possible about the current conditions at your workplace
and about business practices that are already part of your
safety and health program. This information can help you
identify workplace problems and see what is involved in
solving them.
The assessment of your workplace should be conducted
by the person responsible for the safety and health program
and/ or a professional safety and health consultant. It
consists of two major activities.
The first is a comprehensive safety and health survey
of your entire facility, designed to identify any existing or
potential safety and health hazards. This initial survey
should focus on evaluating workplace conditions with
respect to safety and health regulations and generally
recognized safe and healthful work practices. It should
include checking on the use of any hazardous materials,
observing employee work habits and practices, and dis-cussing
safety and health problems with employees. See
part 4, Self- Inspection Checklists, to help you get a good
start on creating this initial survey.
The second major activity is an assessment of your
existing safety and health program to identify areas that
may be working well and those that may need improve-ment.
You will want to gather as much information as you
can that relates to the safety and health management of
your workplace. You should include the following in this
review:
Safety and Health Activities— Examine current
ongoing activities as well as those tried previously,
company policy statements, rules ( both work and
safety), guidelines for proper work practices, and
procedures and records of training programs.
Equipment— Make a list of your major equipment,
principal operations and the locations of each.
Special attention should be given to inspection
schedules, maintenance activities, and plant and
office layouts.
Employees’ Capabilities— Make an alphabetical
list of all employees, showing the date they were
hired, what their jobs are, and what experience and
training they have had. Special attention should be
given to new employees and to employees with dis-abilities.
Accident and Injury/ Illness History— Take a look
at your first aid cases, workers’ compensation insur-ance
payments and workers’ compensation awards,
if any. Review any losses. Determine how your
insurance rate compares with others in your group.
Special attention should be given to recurring acci-dents,
types of injuries, etc.
With whatever facts you have been able to assemble,
take a quick look to see if any major problem areas can be
identified. You would be looking for such things as inter-ruptions
in your normal operations, too many employees
taking too much time off, too many damaged products
and so on. General assistance in this kind of problem
identification can often be obtained from compensation
carriers, local safety councils, state agencies, your major
suppliers and even, perhaps, a competitor.
9
If there is a major problem, see what can be done to
solve it. Once a problem is identified, you can work on
the corrective action or a plan for controlling the problem.
Take immediate action at this point and make a record of
what you have done. Do not become overly involved in
looking for major problem areas during this fact- finding
stage. Remember that no one hazardous situation causes
all of your safety and health problems. Therefore, it is
likely that no single action will greatly improve your
safety and health program.
Even if you have found no major problem at this point,
continue on. Now it is time to develop a comprehensive
safety and health program that meets your needs and
those of your employees. This will make it more difficult
for major problems to crop up in the future.
Establish Your Four- Point Safety
and Health Program
The success of any workplace safety and health pro-gram
depends on careful planning. This means that you
have taken time to think through what you want to
accomplish, and you may even have a general idea of
what it will take to accomplish your goals. Based on that,
you can design a step- by- step process that will take you
from the idea stage to having a fully effective operation.
The most effective way to create the safest possible
workplace for you and your employees is to institute the
four- point program discussed in part 2 of this handbook.
Use the guidance presented in part 2 to help you develop
your program.
Establish your management commitment and involve
your employees. No safety and health program will work,
especially in the long term, without this commitment and
involvement. You should have already taken the first step
by designating the person who will be responsible for
your program.
Be certain that your employees are as widely involved
in the program as possible from the beginning. They are
the people most in contact with the potential and actual
safety and health hazards at your worksite. They will have
constructive input into the development of your safety
and health program. Its ultimate success will depend upon
their support— support that will be more forthcoming for
a program created with their meaningful involvement.
Make sure your program assigns responsibility and
accountability to all employees in your organization. A
good safety and health program makes it clear that each
employee from you through the supervisory levels to the
line worker is responsible for his or her part of the pro-gram.
You will make their safety and health duties clear,
and each of them will be held accountable for his or her
safety- and health- related duties.
Refer to the recommended actions to take on page 4 in
part 2. These will help start your program off on the right
track. You will be building the foundation for a successful
safety and health program.
Establish and regularly conduct your worksite analysis.
You cannot have a successful safety and health program if
it has not identified all the hazards and potential hazards
present in your workplace. This is an ongoing process that
includes routine self- inspections if you are to know where
probable hazards exist and whether or not they are under
control.
Create the systems and procedures necessary to prevent
and control the hazards that have been identified through
your worksite analysis. These control procedures will be
your basic means for preventing accidents. The OSHA
standards that have been promulgated can be of great
assistance to you since they address controls in order of
effectiveness and preference. Where no standard exists,
creative problem solving and consultant resources should
help you create effective controls. The basic formula
OSHA follows is, in order of preference:
1. Eliminating the hazard from the machine, the
method, the material or the plant structure.
2. Abating the hazard by limiting exposure or control-ling
it at its source.
3. Training personnel to be aware of the hazard and to
follow safe work procedures to avoid it.
4. Prescribing personal protective equipment for pro-tecting
employees against the hazard.
Be sure to establish and provide ongoing training for
employees, supervisors and managers. This should ensure
that everyone at your worksite will know about the haz-ards
that exist and how to control them.
Each of these points is crucial if you want to establish a
safe and healthy workplace for you and your employees.
They also work together to reinforce each other, thereby
making it more difficult for accidents to occur and for
work- related health problems to develop.
Develop and Implement Your
Action Plan
Develop an action plan to help you build your safety
and health program around the four points discussed
above. It can serve as a road map to get your program
from where it is now to where you want it to be. It tells
you what has to be done, the logical order in which to do
it, who is responsible, and perhaps most important, where
10
you want to be when you finish. It is a specific descrip-tion
of the problems and solutions, but it is not ironclad—
it can and should be changed to correspond with changes
in the workplace.
A good action plan has two parts:
1. An overall list of the major changes or improve-ments
that are needed to make your safety and
health program effective. Assign each item a priori-ty
and a target date for completion, and identify the
person who will monitor or direct each action.
2. A specific plan on how to implement each major
change or improvement. Here, you would write out
what you wanted to accomplish, the steps required,
who would be assigned to do what, and when you
plan to be finished. This part of the action plan will
help you keep track of program improvements so
that details do not slip through the cracks. When
several improvements are being made at once, it is
easy to overlook something that may be an impor-tant
prerequisite for your next action.
A worksheet that may help you design an overall
action plan and describe specific action steps appears at
the end of this publication.
Once the plan has been established, you must begin
putting it into action. This begins with the item that has
been assigned the highest priority. Check to make sure it
is realistic and manageable, then address the steps you
have written out for that item. This detailed description of
the steps required will help you keep track of the develop-ment
that is taking place. Keep in mind that you can, of
course, work on more than one item at a time and that the
priorities may change as other needs are identified or as
your company’s resources change.
Open communication with your employees is crucial to
the success of your efforts. Their cooperation depends on
understanding what the safety and health program is all
about, why it is important to them, and how it affects their
work. The more you do to involve them in the changes
you are making, the smoother your transition will be.
By putting your action plan into operation at your
workplace, you will have taken a major step toward hav-ing
an effective safety and health program. Remember, a
safety and health program is a plan put into practice.
You can keep your program on track by periodically
checking its progress and by calling on a state or private
consultant when you need assistance.
Any good management system requires a periodic
review to make sure the system is operating as intended.
Every so often ( quarterly, semiannually, or annually) you
should take a careful look at each critical component in
your safety and health program to determine what is
working well and what changes are needed. Your consul-tant
can assist you in this area as well. When you identify
improvements that should be made, you have the basis for
new safety and health objectives for the coming year.
Developing new action plans for those improvements will
help you to continue to progress toward an effective safe-ty
and health program. That, in turn, will reduce your
safety and health risks and increase efficiency and profit.
Remember, however, that it is also important to docu-ment
your activities. The only way you can evaluate the
success of your safety and health program is to have the
documentation available to tell you what you have done,
to assess how it has worked, and to provide you with
guidance on how you can make it work even better.
Technical assistance may be available to you as a small
business owner or manager through your insurance carri-er,
your fellow business people, suppliers of your durable
equipment and raw materials, the local safety council, and
many local, state and federal agencies, including the
Occupational Safety and Health Division’s Consultative
Services Bureau. You may even find help in the yellow
pages of your telephone directory, which will give you the
names of many companies that specialize in items and
services relating to safety, health and fire prevention.
Establishing a quality safety and health program at
your place of business will take some time and involve
some resources. However, you should be pleasantly sur-prised
with the results. You will have happier employees
because they will know you are committed to their safety
and health on the job. You will probably save money
through increased productivity and reduced workers’
compensation insurance costs. You will find increased
respect in your community. The rewards you receive will
surely exceed the cost of your investment in safety and
health protection.
11
The most widely accepted way to identify hazards is to
conduct safety and health inspections. The only way you
can be certain of the actual situation is for you to look at it
from time to time.
Make a Self- Inspection of Your
Business
Begin a program of self- inspection in your own work-place.
Self- inspection is a must if you are to know
where probable hazards exist and whether they are under
control.
Later in this part, you will find checklists designed to
assist you in this fact- finding. They will give you some indi-cation
of where you should begin action to make your busi-ness
safer and more healthful for all of your employees.
These checklists are by no means all- inclusive. You
may wish to add to them or delete portions that do not
apply to your business. Consider carefully each item as
you come to it and then make your decision.
Don’t spend time with items that obviously have no
application to your business. Make sure each item is
seen by you or your designee, and leave nothing to
memory or chance. Write down what you see, or don’t
see, and what you think you should do about it.
When you have completed the checklists, add this
material to your injury information, your employee infor-mation,
and your process and equipment information. You
will now possess many facts that will help you determine
what problems exist. Then, if you use the OSHA stan-dards
in your problem- solving process, it will be much
easier for you to determine the action needed to solve
these problems.
Once the hazards have been identified, you can insti-tute
the control procedures described in part 3 and estab-lish
your four- point safety and health program.
Technical assistance in self- inspection may be
available to you as a small business owner or manager
through your insurance carrier, the local safety council,
and many local, state and federal agencies, including the
Occupational Safety and Health Division’s Consultative
Services Bureau.
Self- Inspection Scope
The scope of your self- inspections should include the
following:
Processing, Receiving, Shipping and Storage—
equipment, job planning, layout, heights, floor
loads, projection of materials, materials handling
and storage methods.
Building and Grounds Conditions— floors, walls,
ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms,
driveways and aisles.
Housekeeping Program— waste disposal, tools,
objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning
methods, schedules, work areas, remote areas and
storage areas.
Electricity— equipment, switches, breakers, fuses,
switch boxes, junctions, special fixtures, circuits,
insulation, extensions, tools, motors, grounding and
NEC compliance.
Lighting— type, intensity, controls, conditions,
diffusion, location, and glare and shadow control.
Heating and Ventilation— type, effectiveness,
temperature, humidity, controls, natural and artifi-cial
ventilation, and exhausting.
Machinery— points of operation, flywheels, gears,
shafts, pulleys, key ways, belts, couplings, sprockets,
chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and equip-ment,
brakes, exhausting, feeding, oiling, adjusting,
maintenance, lock out, grounding, work space, loca-tion,
and purchasing standards.
Personnel— training, experience, methods of check-ing
machines before use, type of clothing, personal
protective equipment, use of guards, tool storage,
work practices, and method of cleaning, oiling or
adjusting machinery.
Hand and Power Tools— purchasing standards,
inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance,
grounding, use and handling.
Chemicals— storage, handling, transportation,
spills, disposal, amounts used, toxicity or other
4.
Self- Inspection
12
harmful effects, warning signs, supervision, train-ing,
and protective clothing and equipment.
Fire Prevention— extinguishers, alarms, sprinklers,
smoking rules, exits, personnel assigned, separation
of flammable materials and dangerous operations,
explosive- proof fixtures in hazardous locations, and
waste disposal.
Maintenance— regularity, effectiveness, training of
personnel, materials and equipment used, records
maintained, method of locking out machinery, and
general methods.
Personal Protective Equipment— type, size, main-tenance,
repair, storage, assignment of responsibility,
purchasing methods, standards observed, training in
care and use, rules of use, and method of assignment.
13
These checklists are by no means all- inclusive. You
should add to them or delete portions or items that do not
apply to your operations; however, carefully consider each
item as you come to it and then make your decision. You
also will need to refer to OSHA standards for complete and
specific standards that may apply to your work situation.
Employer Posting
Is the required OSHA workplace poster displayed in
a prominent location where all employees are likely
to see it?
Are emergency telephone numbers posted where
they can be readily found in case of emergency?
Where employees may be exposed to any toxic sub-stances
or harmful physical agents, has appropriate
information concerning employee access to medical
and exposure records and material safety data sheets
( MSDS) been posted or otherwise made readily
available to affected employees?
Are signs concerning “ Exiting from buildings,”
room capacities, floor loading, biohazards, expo-sures
to X- ray, microwave, or other harmful radia-tion
or substances posted where appropriate?
Is the summary of occupational injuries and
illnesses posted in the month of February?
Recordkeeping
Are all occupational injuries and illnesses, except
minor injuries requiring only first aid, being
recorded as required on the OSHA 300 log?
Are employee medical records and records of
employee exposure to hazardous substances or
harmful physical agents up- to- date and in compli-ance
with current OSHA standards?
Are employee training records kept and accessible
for review by employees, when required by OSHA
standards?
Have arrangements been made to maintain required
records for the legal period of time for each specific
type of record? ( Some records must be maintained
for at least 40 years.)
Are operating permits and records up- to- date for
such items as elevators, air pressure tanks, liquefied
petroleum gas tanks, etc.?
Safety and Health Program
Do you have an active safety and health program in
operation that deals with general safety and health
program elements as well as the management of
hazards specific to your worksite?
Is one person clearly responsible for the overall
activities of the safety and health program?
Do you have a safety committee or group made
up of management and employee representatives
that meets regularly and reports in writing on its
activities?
Do you have a working procedure for handling in-house
employee complaints regarding safety and
health?
Are you keeping your employees advised of the suc-cessful
effort and accomplishments you and/ or your
safety committee have made in ensuring they will
have a workplace that is safe and healthful?
Medical Services and First Aid
Is there a hospital, clinic or infirmary for medical
care in proximity of your workplace?
If medical and first aid facilities are not in proximity
of your workplace, is at least one employee on each
shift currently qualified to render first aid?
Have all employees who are expected to respond to
medical emergencies as part of their work*
( 1) received first aid training; ( 2) had hepatitis B
vaccination made available to them; ( 3) had appro-priate
training on procedures to protect them from
bloodborne pathogens, including universal precau-tions;
and ( 4) have available and understand how to
use appropriate personal protective equipment to
protect against exposure to bloodborne diseases?
Self- Inspection Checklists
_______________
* In North Carolina, seasonal or temporary workers who are
employed for six months or less who render first aid only as a
collateral duty do not have to be offered pre- exposure hepatitis
B vaccine if the employer puts the following requirements into
his/ her exposure control plan and implements them: ( 1) the
employer must record all first aid incidents involving the pres-ence
of blood or other potentially infectious materials before the
end of the work shift during which the first aid incident
occurred; ( 2) the employer must comply with post- exposure
evaluation, prophylaxis and followup requirements of the stan-dard
with respect to “ exposure incidents,” as defined by the
standard; ( 3) the employer must train designated first aid
providers about the reporting procedure; ( 4) the employer must
offer to initiate hepatitis B vaccination series within 24 hours to
all unvaccinated first aid providers who have rendered assis-tance
in any situation involving the presence of blood or other
potentially infectious materials.
14
Where employees have had an exposure incident
involving bloodborne pathogens, did you provide an
immediate post- exposure medical evaluation and
follow- up?
Are medical personnel readily available for advice
and consultation on matters of employees’ health?
Are emergency phone numbers posted?
Are first aid kits easily accessible to each work area,
with necessary supplies available, periodically
inspected and replenished as needed?
Have first aid kit supplies been approved by a physi-cian,
indicating that they are adequate for a particu-lar
area or operation?
Are means provided for quick drenching or flushing
of the eyes and body in areas where corrosive liq-uids
or materials are handled?
Fire Protection
Is your local fire department well acquainted with
your facilities, its location and specific hazards?
If you have a fire alarm system, is it certified as
required?
If you have a fire alarm system, is it tested at least
annually?
If you have interior stand pipes and valves, are they
inspected regularly?
If you have outside private fire hydrants, are they
flushed at least once a year and on a routine preven-tive
maintenance schedule?
Are fire doors and shutters in good operating condition?
Are fire doors and shutters unobstructed and protect-ed
against obstructions, including their counter-weights?
Are fire door and shutter fusible links in place?
Are automatic sprinkler system water control valves,
air and water pressure checked weekly/ periodically
as required?
Is the maintenance of automatic sprinkler systems
assigned to responsible people or to a sprinkler con-tractor?
Are sprinkler heads protected by metal guards, when
exposed to physical damage?
Is proper clearance maintained below sprinkler
heads?
Are portable fire extinguishers provided in adequate
number and type?
Are fire extinguishers mounted in readily accessible
locations?
Are fire extinguishers recharged regularly and noted
on the inspection tag?
Are employees periodically instructed in the use of
extinguishers and fire protection procedures?
Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing
: Personal Protection Equipment 1910.132( b)
[ Note: 1910.132( b) Personal Protective Equipment stan-dard
is amended to define the employer’s responsibilities
relating to the provision, adequacy and maintenance of
employee personal protective equipment. See 13 NCAC
07F. 101( 2) General Industry, State- Specific Standards.]
( b) Equipment. ( 1) Employer- provided equipment. It is
the responsibility of the employer to provide, at no cost to
the employee, all personal protective equipment which
the employee does not wear off the jobsite for use off the
job. ( 2) Employee- owned equipment. Where employees
provide their own protective equipment, the employer
shall be responsible to assure its adequacy, including
proper maintenance, and sanitation of such equipment.
Are protective goggles or face shields provided and
worn where there is any danger of flying particles or
corrosive materials?
Are approved safety glasses required to be worn at
all times in areas where there is a risk of eye injuries
such as punctures, abrasions, contusions or burns?
Are employees who need corrective lenses ( glasses
or contacts) in working environments having harm-ful
exposures required to wear only approved safety
glasses or protective goggles or use other medically
approved precautionary procedures?
Are protective gloves, aprons, shields or other
means provided and required where employees
could be cut or where there is reasonably anticipated
exposure to corrosive liquids, chemicals, blood or
other potentially infectious materials? ( See 29 CFR
1910.1030( b) for the definition of “ other potentially
infectious materials.”)
Are hard hats provided and worn where danger of
falling objects exists?
Are hard hats inspected periodically for damage to
the shell and suspension system?
Is appropriate foot protection required where there
is the risk of foot injuries from hot, corrosive, poi-sonous
substances, falling objects, crushing or
penetrating actions?
15
Are approved respirators provided for regular or
emergency use where needed?
Is all protective equipment maintained in a sanitary
condition and ready for use?
Do you have eye wash facilities and a quick drench
shower within the work area where employees are
exposed to injurious corrosive materials?
Where special equipment is needed for electrical
workers, is it available?
Where food or beverages are consumed on the
premises, are they consumed in areas where there is
no exposure to toxic material, blood or other poten-tially
infectious materials?
Is protection against the effects of occupational
noise exposure provided when sound levels exceed
those of the OSHA noise standard?
Are adequate work procedures, protective clothing,
and equipment provided and used when cleaning up
spilled toxic or otherwise hazardous materials and
liquids?
Are there appropriate procedures in place for dispos-ing
of or decontaminating personal protective equip-ment
contaminated with, or reasonably anticipated
to be contaminated with, blood or other potentially
infectious materials?
General Work Environment
Are all worksites clean, sanitary, and orderly?
Are work surfaces kept dry or appropriate means
taken to ensure the surfaces are slip- resistant?
Are all spilled hazardous materials or liquids,
including blood and other potentially infectious
materials, cleaned up immediately and according to
proper procedures?
Are combustible scrap, debris and waste stored safe-ly
and removed from the worksite promptly?
Is all regulated waste, as defined in the OSHA
bloodborne pathogens standard ( 29 CFR
1910.1030), discarded according to federal, state
and local regulations?
Are accumulations of combustible dust routinely
removed from elevated surfaces including the over-head
structure of buildings, etc.?
Is combustible dust cleaned up with a vacuum sys-tem
to prevent the dust going into suspension?
Is metallic or conductive dust prevented from
entering or accumulating on or around electrical
enclosures or equipment?
Are covered metal waste cans used for oily and
paint- soaked waste?
Are all oil and gas fired devices equipped with
flame failure controls that will prevent flow of fuel
if pilots or main burners are not working?
Are paint spray booths, dip tanks, etc., cleaned reg-ularly?
Are the minimum number of toilets and washing
facilities provided?
Are all toilets and washing facilities clean and sanitary?
Are all work areas adequately illuminated?
Are pits and floor openings covered or otherwise
guarded?
Walkways
Are aisles and passageways kept clear?
Are aisles and walkways marked as appropriate?
Are wet surfaces covered with nonslip materials?
Are holes in the floor, sidewalk or other walking
surfaces repaired properly, covered or otherwise
made safe?
Is there safe clearance for walking in aisles where
motorized or mechanical handling equipment is
operating?
Are materials or equipment stored in such a way that
sharp projectives will not interfere with the walkway?
Are spilled materials cleaned up immediately?
Are changes of direction or elevation readily identi-fiable?
Are aisles or walkways that pass near moving or
operating machinery, welding operations, or similar
operations arranged so employees will not be sub-jected
to potential hazards?
Is adequate headroom provided for the entire length
of any aisle or walkway?
Are standard guardrails provided wherever aisle or
walkway surfaces are elevated more than 30 inches
above any adjacent floor or the ground?
Are bridges provided over conveyors and similar
hazards?
16
Floor and Wall Openings
Are floor openings guarded by a cover, guardrail or
equivalent on all sides ( except at entrance to stair-ways
or ladders)?
Are toeboards installed around the edges of perma-nent
floor openings ( where people may pass below
the opening)?
Are skylight screens of such construction and
mounting that they will withstand a load of at least
200 pounds?
Is the glass in the windows, doors, glass walls, etc.,
which are subject to human impact, of sufficient
thickness and type for the condition of use?
Are grates or similar type covers over floor open-ings
such as floor drains of such design that foot
traffic or rolling equipment will not be affected by
the grate spacing?
Are unused portions of service pits and pits not actu-ally
in use either covered or protected by guardrails
or equivalent?
Are manhole covers, trench covers and similar cov-ers,
plus their supports, designed to carry a truck
rear axle load of at least 20,000 pounds when locat-ed
in roadways and subject to vehicle traffic?
Are floor or wall openings in fire- resistive construc-tion
provided with doors or covers compatible with
the fire rating of the structure and provided with a
self- closing feature when appropriate?
Stairs and Stairways
Are standard stair rails or handrails on all stairways
having four or more risers?
Are all stairways at least 22 inches wide?
Do stairs have landing platforms not less than 30
inches in the direction of travel and extend 22 inches
in width at every 12 feet or less of vertical rise?
Do stairs angle no more than 50 and no less than 30
degrees?
Are stairs of hollow- pan type treads and landings
filled to the top edge of the pan with solid material?
Are step risers on stairs uniform from top to bottom?
Are steps on stairs and stairways designed or pro-vided
with a surface that renders them slip resistant?
Are stairway handrails located between 30 and 34
inches above the leading edge of stair treads?
Do stairway handrails have at least 3 inches of clear-ance
between the handrails and the wall or surface
they are mounted on?
Where doors or gates open directly on a stairway, is
there a platform provided so the swing of the door
does not reduce the width of the platform to less
than 21 inches?
Are stairway handrails capable of withstanding a
load of 200 pounds, applied within 2 inches of the
top edge, in any downward or outward direction?
Where stairs or stairways exit directly into any area
where vehicles may be operated, are adequate barri-ers
and warnings provided to prevent employees
stepping into the path of traffic?
Do stairway landings have a dimension measured in
the direction of travel at least equal to the width of
the stairway?
Is the vertical distance between stairway landings
limited to 12 feet or less?
Elevated Surfaces
Are signs posted, when appropriate, showing the
elevated surface load capacity?
Are surfaces elevated more than 30 inches above the
floor or ground provided with standard guardrails?
Are all elevated surfaces ( beneath which people or
machinery could be exposed to falling objects) pro-vided
with standard 4- inch toeboards?
Is a permanent means of access and egress provided
to elevated storage and work surfaces?
Is required headroom provided where necessary?
Is material on elevated surfaces piled, stacked or
racked in a manner to prevent it from tipping,
falling, collapsing, rolling or spreading?
Are dock boards or bridge plates used when trans-ferring
materials between docks and trucks or rail
cars?
Exiting or Egress
Are all exits marked with an exit sign and illuminat-ed
by a reliable light source?
Are the directions to exits, when not immediately
apparent, marked with visible signs?
Are doors, passageways or stairways that are neither
exits nor access to exits and which could be mistak-en
for exits appropriately marked “ NOT AN EXIT,”
“ TO BASEMENT,” “ STOREROOM,” etc.?
17
Are exit signs provided with the word “ EXIT” in
lettering at least 5 inches high and the stroke of the
lettering at least 1/ 2- inch wide?
Are exit doors side- hinged?
Are all exits kept free of obstructions?
Are at least two means of egress provided from ele-vated
platforms, pits or rooms where the absence of
a second exit would increase the risk of injury from
hot, poisonous, corrosive, suffocating, flammable or
explosive substances?
Are there sufficient exits to permit prompt escape in
case of emergency?
Are special precautions taken to protect employees
during construction and repair operations?
Is the number of exits from each floor of a building,
and the number of exits from the building itself,
appropriate for the building occupancy load?
Are exit stairways that are required to be separated
from other parts of a building enclosed by at least
two- hour fire- resistive construction in buildings
more than four stories in height, and not less than
one- hour fire- resistive construction elsewhere?
Where ramps are used as part of required exiting
from a building, is the ramp slope limited to 1 foot
vertical and 12 feet horizontal?
Where exiting will be through frameless glass doors,
glass exit doors, storm doors, etc., are the doors
fully tempered and do they meet the safety require-ments
for human impact?
Exit Doors
Are doors that are required to serve as exits
designed and constructed so that the way of exit
travel is obvious and direct?
Are windows that could be mistaken for exit doors
made inaccessible by means of barriers or railings?
Are exit doors openable from the direction of exit
travel without the use of a key or any special knowl-edge
or effort when the building is occupied?
Is a revolving, sliding or overhead door prohibited
from serving as a required exit door?
Where panic hardware is installed on a required exit
door, will it allow the door to open by applying a
force of 15 pounds or less in the direction of the exit
traffic?
Are doors on cold storage rooms provided with an
inside release mechanism that will release the latch
and open the door even if it’s padlocked or other-wise
locked on the outside?
Where exit doors open directly onto any street, alley
or other area where vehicles may be operated, are
adequate barriers and warnings provided to prevent
employees stepping into the path of traffic?
Are doors that swing in both directions and are
located between rooms where there is frequent traf-fic
provided with viewing panels in each door?
Portable Ladders
Are all ladders maintained in good condition, joints
between steps and side rails tight, all hardware and
fittings securely attached, and moveable parts oper-ating
freely without binding or undue play?
Are nonslip safety feet provided on each ladder?
Are nonslip safety feet provided on each metal or
rung ladder?
Are ladder rungs and steps free of grease and oil?
Is it prohibited to place a ladder in front of doors
opening toward the ladder except when the door is
blocked open, locked or guarded?
Is it prohibited to place ladders on boxes, barrels or
other unstable bases to obtain additional height?
Are employees instructed to face the ladder when
ascending or descending?
Are employees prohibited from using ladders that
are broken, missing steps, rungs, or cleats, broken
side rails, or other faulty equipment?
Are employees instructed not to use the top step of
ordinary stepladders as a step?
When portable rung ladders are used to gain access to
elevated platforms, roofs, etc., does the ladder always
extend at least 3 feet above the elevated surface?
Is it required that when portable rung or cleat type
ladders are used, the base is so placed that slipping
will not occur, or it is lashed or otherwise held in
place?
Are portable metal ladders marked with signs read-ing
“ CAUTION— Do Not Use Around Electrical
Equipment” or equivalent wording?
Are employees prohibited from using ladders as
guys, braces, skids, gin poles, or for other than their
intended purposes?
Are employees instructed to only adjust extension
ladders while standing at a base ( not while standing
on the ladder or from a position above the ladder)?
18
Are metal ladders inspected for damage?
Are the rungs of ladders uniformly spaced at 12
inches, center to center?
Hand Tools and Equipment
Are all tools and equipment ( both company- and
employee- owned) used by employees at their work-place
in good condition?
Are hand tools such as chisels, punches, etc., that
develop mushroomed heads during use, recondi-tioned
or replaced as necessary?
Are broken or fractured handles on hammers, axes
and similar equipment replaced promptly?
Are worn or bent wrenches replaced regularly?
Are appropriate handles used on files and similar
tools?
Are employees made aware of the hazards caused
by faulty or improperly used hand tools?
Are appropriate safety glasses, face shields, etc.,
used while using hand tools or other equipment that
might produce flying materials or be subject to
breakage?
Are jacks checked periodically to ensure they are in
good operating condition?
Are tool handles wedged tightly in the head of all
tools?
Are tool cutting edges kept sharp so the tool will
move smoothly without binding or skipping?
Are tools stored in a dry, secure location where they
won’t be tampered with?
Is eye and face protection used when driving hard-ened
or tempered studs or nails?
Portable ( Power- Operated) Tools and Equipment
Are grinders, saws and similar equipment provided
with appropriate safety guards?
Are power tools used with the correct shield, guard
or attachment, recommended by the manufacturer?
Are portable circular saws equipped with guards
above and below the base shoe?
Are circular saw guards checked to ensure they are
not wedged up, thus leaving the lower portion of the
blade unguarded?
Are rotating or moving parts of equipment guarded
to prevent physical contact?
Are all cord- connected, electrically operated tools
and equipment effectively grounded or of the
approved double- insulated type?
Are effective guards in place over belts, pulleys,
chains, and sprockets on equipment such as concrete
mixers, air compressors, etc.?
Are portable fans provided with full guards or
screens having openings 1/ 2 inch or less?
Is hoisting equipment available and used for lifting
heavy objects, and are hoist ratings and characteris-tics
appropriate for the task?
Are ground- fault circuit interrupters provided on all
temporary electrical 15 and 20 ampere circuits used
during periods of construction?
Are pneumatic and hydraulic hoses on power- oper-ated
tools checked regularly for deterioration or
damage?
Abrasive Wheel Equipment— Grinders
Is the work rest used and kept adjusted to within 1/ 8
inch of the wheel?
Is the adjustable tongue on the top side of the
grinder used and kept adjusted to within 1/ 4 inch of
the wheel?
Do side guards cover the spindle, nut, flange and 75
percent of the wheel diameter?
Are bench and pedestal grinders permanently
mounted?
Are goggles or face shields always worn when
grinding?
Is the maximum RPM rating of each abrasive wheel
compatible with the RPM rating of the grinder
motor?
Are fixed or permanently mounted grinders connect-ed
to their electrical supply system with metallic
conduit or other permanent wiring method?
Does each grinder have an individual on and off
control switch?
Is each electrically operated grinder effectively
grounded?
Before new abrasive wheels are mounted, are they
visually inspected and ring tested?
Are dust collectors and powered exhausts provided
on grinders used in operations that produce large
amounts of dust?
19
Are splash guards mounted on grinders that use coolant
to prevent the coolant from reaching employees?
Is cleanliness maintained around grinders?
Powder- Actuated Tools
Are employees who operate powder- actuated tools
trained in their use and do they carry a valid opera-tor’s
card?
Is each powder- actuated tool stored in its own
locked container when not being used?
Is a sign at least 7 inches by 10 inches with bold
face type reading “ POWDER- ACTUATED TOOL
IN USE” conspicuously posted when the tool is
being used?
Are powder- actuated tools left unloaded until they
are actually ready to be used?
Are powder- actuated tools inspected for obstruc-tions
or defects each day before use?
Do powder- actuated tool operators have and use
appropriate personal protective equipment such as
hard hats, safety goggles, safety shoes and ear pro-tectors?
Machine Guarding
Is there a training program to instruct employees on
safe methods of machine operation?
Is there adequate supervision to ensure that employees
are following safe machine operating procedures?
Is there a regular program of safety inspection of
machinery and equipment?
Is all machinery and equipment kept clean and
properly maintained?
Is sufficient clearance provided around and between
machines to allow for safe operations, set up and
servicing, material handling, and waste removal?
Are equipment and machinery securely placed and
anchored when necessary to prevent tipping or other
movement that could result in personal injury?
Is there a power shut- off switch within reach of the
operator’s position at each machine?
Can electric power to each machine be locked out
for maintenance, repair or security?
Are the noncurrent- carrying metal parts of electri-cally
operated machines bonded and grounded?
Are foot- operated switches guarded or arranged to
prevent accidental actuation by personnel or falling
objects?
Are manually operated valves and switches control-ling
the operation of equipment and machines clear-ly
identified and readily accessible?
Are all emergency stop buttons colored red?
Are all pulleys and belts that are within 7 feet of the
floor or working level properly guarded?
Are all moving chains and gears properly guarded?
Are splash guards mounted on machines that use
coolant to prevent the coolant from reaching
employees?
Are methods provided to protect the operator and
other employees in the machine area from hazards
created at the point of operation, ingoing nip points,
rotating parts, flying chips and sparks?
Are machinery guards secure and so arranged that
they do not offer a hazard in their use?
If special hand tools are used for placing and remov-ing
material, do they protect the operator’s hands?
Are revolving drums, barrels and containers
required to be guarded by an enclosure that is inter-locked
with the drive mechanism, so that revolution
cannot occur unless the guard enclosure is in place?
Do arbors and mandrels have firm and secure
bearings and are they free from play?
Are provisions made to prevent machines from
automatically starting when power is restored after a
power failure or shutdown?
Are machines constructed so as to be free from
excessive vibration when the largest size tool is
mounted and run at full speed?
If machinery is cleaned with compressed air, is air
pressure controlled and personal protective equipment
or other safeguards utilized to protect operators and
other workers from eye and body injury?
Are fan blades protected with a guard having open-ings
no larger than 1/ 2 inch when operating with 7
feet of the floor?
Are saws used for ripping equipped with anti- kick
back devices and spreaders?
Are radial arm saws so arranged that the cutting
head will gently return to the back of the table when
released?
Lockout/ Blockout Procedures
Is all machinery or equipment capable of movement
required to be de- energized or disengaged and
blocked or locked out during cleaning, servicing,
20
adjusting or setting up operations, whenever
required?
Where the power disconnecting means for equip-ment
does not also disconnect the electrical control
circuit:
Are the appropriate electrical enclosures identi-fied?
Is means provided to ensure the control circuit
can also be disconnected and locked out?
Is the locking out of control circuits in lieu of lock-ing
out main power disconnects prohibited?
Are all equipment control valve handles provided
with a means for locking out?
Does the lockout procedure require that stored ener-gy
( mechanical, hydraulic, air, etc.) be released or
blocked before equipment is locked out for repairs?
Are appropriate employees provided with individu-ally
keyed personal safety locks?
Are employees required to keep personal control of
their key( s) while they have safety locks in use?
Is it required that only the employee exposed to the
hazard place or remove the safety lock?
Is it required that employees check the safety of the
lockout by attempting to start up after making sure
no one is exposed?
Are employees instructed to always push the control
circuit stop button prior to re- energizing the main
power switch?
Is there a means provided to identify any or all
employees who are working on locked- out equip-ment
by their locks or accompanying tags?
Are a sufficient number of accident preventive signs
or tags and safety padlocks provided for any reason-ably
foreseeable repair emergency?
When machine operations, configuration or size
requires the operator to leave his or her control sta-tion
to install tools or perform other operations and
that part of the machine could move if accidentally
activated, is such element required to be separately
locked or blocked out?
In the event that equipment or lines cannot be shut
down, locked out and tagged, is a safe job procedure
established and rigidly followed?
Welding, Cutting and Brazing
Are only authorized and trained personnel permitted
to use welding, cutting or brazing equipment?
Do all operators have copies of the appropriate operat-ing
instructions and are they directed to follow them?
Are compressed gas cylinders regularly examined for
obvious signs of defects, deep rusting or leakage?
Is care used in handling and storage of cylinders,
safety valves, relief valves, etc., to prevent damage?
Are precautions taken to prevent the mixture of air
or oxygen with flammable gases, except at a burner
or in a standard torch?
Are only approved apparatus ( torches, regulators,
pressure- reducing valves, acetylene generators,
manifolds) used?
Are cylinders kept away from sources of heat?
Are the cylinders kept away from elevators, stairs or
gangways?
Is it prohibited to use cylinders as rollers or supports?
Are empty cylinders appropriately marked and their
valves closed?
Are signs reading “ DANGER— NO SMOKING,
MATCHES OR OPEN LIGHTS,” or the equivalent,
posted?
Are cylinders, cylinder valves, couplings, regulators,
hoses and apparatus kept free of oily or greasy sub-stances?
Is care taken not to drop or strike cylinders?
Unless secured on special trucks, are regulators
removed and valve protection caps put in place
before moving cylinders?
Do cylinders without fixed wheels have keys,
handles or nonadjustable wrenches on stem valves
when in service?
Are liquefied gases stored and shipped valve end up
with valve covers in place?
Are provisions made to never crack a fuel gas cylin-der
valve near sources of ignition?
Before a regulator is removed, is the valve closed
and gas released from the regulator?
Is red used to identify the acetylene ( and other fuel
gas) hose, green for oxygen hose, and black for inert
gas and air hose?
Are pressure- reducing regulators used only for the
gas and pressures for which they are intended?
Is open circuit ( no- load) voltage of arc welding and
cutting machines as low as possible and not in
excess of the recommended limits?
21
Under wet conditions, are automatic controls for
reducing no- load voltage used?
Is grounding of the machine frame and safety
ground connections of portable machines checked
periodically?
Are electrodes removed from the holders when not
in use?
Is it required that electric power to the welder be
shut off when no one is in attendance?
Is suitable fire extinguishing equipment available
for immediate use?
Is the welder forbidden to coil or loop welding elec-trode
cable around his or her body?
Are wet machines thoroughly dried and tested
before being used?
Are work and electrode lead cables frequently
inspected for wear and damage and replaced when
needed?
Do means for connecting cable lengths have ade-quate
insulation?
When the object to be welded cannot be moved and
fire hazards cannot be removed, are shields used to
confine heat, sparks, and slag?
Are fire watchers assigned when welding or cutting
is performed in locations where a serious fire might
develop?
Are combustible floors kept wet, covered by damp
sand or protected by fire- resistant shields?
When floors are wet down, are personnel protected
from possible electrical shock?
When welding is done on metal walls, are precau-tions
taken to protect combustibles on the other side?
Before hot work is begun, are used drums, barrels,
tanks and other containers so thoroughly cleaned
that no substances remain that could explode, ignite
or produce toxic vapors?
Is it required that eye protection helmets, hand
shields and goggles meet appropriate standards?
Are employees exposed to the hazards created by
welding, cutting or brazing operations protected
with personal protective equipment and clothing?
Is a check made for adequate ventilation where
welding or cutting is performed?
When working in confined places, are environmen-tal
monitoring tests taken and means provided for
quick removal of welders in case of an emergency?
Compressors and Compressed Air
Are compressors equipped with pressure relief
valves and pressure gauges?
Are compressor air intakes installed and equipped so
as to ensure that only clean uncontaminated air
enters the compressor?
Are air filters installed on the compressor intake?
Are compressors operated and lubricated in accor-dance
with the manufacturer’s recommendations?
Are safety devices on compressed air systems
checked frequently?
Before any repair work is done on the pressure sys-tem
of a compressor, is the pressure bled off and the
system locked- out?
Are signs posted to warn of the automatic starting
feature of the compressors?
Is the belt drive system totally enclosed to provide
protection for the front, back, top, and sides?
Is it strictly prohibited to direct compressed air
towards a person?
Are employees prohibited from using highly com-pressed
air for cleaning purposes?
If compressed air is used for cleaning off clothing, is
the pressure reduced to less than 30 psi?
When using compressed air for cleaning, do
employees wear protective chip guarding and
personal protective equipment?
Are safety chains or other suitable locking devices
used at couplings of high pressure hose lines where
a connection failure would create a hazard?
Before compressed air is used to empty containers
of liquid, is the safe working pressure of the contain-er
checked?
When compressed air is used with abrasive blast
cleaning equipment, is the operating valve a type
that must be held open manually?
When compressed air is used to inflate auto tires, is
a clip- on chuck and an inline regulator preset to 40
psi required?
Is it prohibited to use compressed air to clean up or
move combustible dust if such action could cause
the dust to be suspended in the air and cause a fire or
explosion hazard?
22
Compressed Air Receivers
Is every receiver equipped with a pressure gauge and
with one or more automatic spring- loaded safety valves?
Is the total relieving capacity of the safety valve
capable of preventing pressure in the receiver from
exceeding the maximum allowable working pressure
of the receiver by more than 10 percent?
Is every air receiver provided with a drain pipe and
valve at the lowest point for the removal of accumu-lated
oil and water?
Are compressed air receivers periodically drained of
moisture and oil?
Are all safety valves tested frequently and at regular
intervals to determine whether they are in good
operating condition?
Is the inlet of air receivers and piping systems kept
free of accumulated oil and carbonaceous materials?
Compressed Gas Cylinders
Are cylinders with a water weight capacity over 30
pounds equipped with means for connecting a valve
protector device or with a collar or recess to protect
the valve?
Are cylinders legibly marked to clearly identify the
gas contained?
Are compressed gas cylinders stored in areas that
are protected from external heat sources such as
flame impingement, intense radiant heat, electric
arcs or high temperature lines?
Are cylinders located or stored in areas where they
will not be damaged by passing or falling objects or
subjected to tampering by unauthorized people?
Are cylinders stored or transported in a manner to
prevent them from creating a hazard by tipping,
falling or rolling?
Are cylinders containing liquefied fuel gas stored or
transported in a position so that the safety relief
device is always in direct contact with the vapor
space in the cylinder?
Are valve protectors always placed on cylinders when
the cylinders are not in use or connected for use?
Are all valves closed off before a cylinder is moved,
when the cylinder is empty, and at the completion of
each job?
Are low pressure fuel gas cylinders checked periodi-cally
for corrosion, general distortion, cracks or any
other defect that might indicate a weakness or render
it unfit for service?
Does the periodic check of low pressure fuel gas
cylinders include a close inspection of the cylinders’
bottoms?
Hoist and Auxiliary Equipment
Is each overhead electric hoist equipped with a limit
device to stop the hook travel at its highest and low-est
point of safe travel?
Will each hoist automatically stop and hold any load
up to 125 percent of its rated load if its actuating
force is removed?
Is the rated load of each hoist legibly marked and
visible to the operator?
Are stops provided at the safe limits of travel for
trolley hoists?
Are the controls of hoists plainly marked to indicate
the direction of travel or motion?
Is each cage- controlled hoist equipped with an
effective warning device?
Are close- fitting guards or other suitable devices
installed on hoists to ensure hoist ropes will be
maintained in the sheave grooves?
Are all hoist chains or ropes of sufficient length to
handle the full range of movement of the application
while still maintaining two full wraps on the drum at
all times?
Are nip points or contact points between hoist ropes
and sheaves that are permanently located within 7 feet
of the floor, ground or working platform guarded?
Is it prohibited to use chains or rope slings that are
kinked or twisted?
Is it prohibited to use the hoist rope or chain
wrapped around the load as a substitute for a sling?
Is the operator instructed to avoid carrying loads
over people?
Are only employees who have been trained in the
proper use of hoists allowed to operate them?
Industrial Trucks— Forklifts
Are only drivers authorized by the employer and
trained in the safe operations of industrial trucks
permitted to operate such vehicles? Methods must
be devised to train operators in safe operation of
powered industrial trucks.
Does employer ensure that each powered industrial
truck operator is competent to operate a powered
industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the suc-cessful
completion of required training and evaluation
in accordance with 1910.178( l)— Operator Training?
23
Is substantial overhead protective equipment provid-ed
on high lift rider equipment?
Are the required lift truck operating rules posted and
enforced?
Is directional lighting provided on each industrial
truck that operates in an area with less than 2 foot-candles
per square foot of general lighting?
Does each industrial truck have a warning horn, whis-tle,
gong or other device that can be clearly heard
above the normal noise in the areas where operated?
Are the brakes on each industrial truck capable of
bringing the vehicle to a complete and safe stop
when fully loaded?
Will the industrial truck’s parking brake effectively
prevent the vehicle from moving when unattended?
Are industrial trucks operating in areas where flam-mable
gases or vapors or combustible dust or
ignitable fibers may be present in the atmosphere
approved for such locations?
Are motorized hand and hand/ rider trucks so
designed that the brakes are applied and power to
the drive motor shuts off when the operator releases
his or her grip on the device that controls the travel?
Are industrial trucks with internal combustion
engines, operated in buildings or enclosed areas, care-fully
checked to ensure such operations do not cause
harmful concentrations of dangerous gases or fumes?
Spraying Operations
Is adequate ventilation ensured before spray opera-tions
are started?
Is mechanical ventilation provided when spraying
operations are done in enclosed areas?
When mechanical ventilation is provided during
spraying operations, is it so arranged that it will not
circulate the contaminated air?
Is the spray area free of hot surfaces?
Is the spray area at least 20 feet from flames, sparks,
operating electrical motors and other ignition
sources?
Are portable lamps used to illuminate spray areas
suitable for use in a hazardous location?
Is approved respiratory equipment provided and
used when appropriate during spraying operations?
Do solvents used for cleaning have a flash point to
100 F or more?
Are fire control sprinkler heads kept clean?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted in spray areas,
paint rooms, paint booths and paint storage areas?
Is the spray area kept clean of combustible residue?
Are spray booths constructed of metal, masonry or
other substantial noncombustible material?
Are spray booth floors and baffles noncombustible
and easily cleaned?
Is infrared drying apparatus kept out of the spray
area during spraying operations?
Is the spay booth completely ventilated before using
the drying apparatus?
Is the electric drying apparatus properly grounded?
Are lighting fixtures for spray booths located out-side
of the booth and the interior lighted through
sealed clear panels?
Are the electric motors for exhaust fans placed out-side
booths or ducts?
Are belts and pulleys inside the booth fully enclosed?
Do ducts have access doors to allow cleaning?
Do all drying spaces have adequate ventilation?
Entering Confined Spaces
Are confined spaces thoroughly emptied of any cor-rosive
or hazardous substances, such as acids or
caustics, before entry?
Are all lines to a confined space containing inert,
toxic, flammable or corrosive materials valved off and
blanked or disconnected and separated before entry?
Is it required that all impellers, agitators or other
moving equipment inside confined spaces be locked
out if they present a hazard?
Is either natural or mechanical ventilation provided
prior to confined space entry?
Are appropriate atmospheric tests performed to
check for oxygen deficiency, toxic substances and
explosive concentrations in the confined space
before entry?
Is adequate illumination provided for the work to be
performed in the confined space?
Is the atmosphere inside the confined space fre-quently
tested or continuously monitored during
conduct of work?
Is there an assigned safety standby employee outside
of the confined space, when required, whose sole
responsibility is to watch the work in progress,
sound an alarm if necessary and render assistance?
24
Is the standby employee appropriately trained and
equipped to handle an emergency?
Is the standby employee or other employees prohib-ited
from entering the confined space without life-lines
and respiratory equipment if there is any ques-tion
as to the cause of an emergency?
Is approved respiratory equipment required if the
atmosphere inside the confined space cannot be
made acceptable?
Is all portable electrical equipment used inside con-fined
spaces either grounded and insulated or
equipped with ground fault protection?
Before gas welding or burning is started in a con-fined
space, are hoses checked for leaks, compressed
gas bottles forbidden inside of the confined space,
torches lighted only outside of the confined area, and
the confined area tested for an explosive atmosphere
each time before a lighted torch is to be taken into
the confined space?
If employees will be using oxygen- consuming
equipment such as salamanders, torches, furnaces,
etc., in a confined space, is sufficient air provided to
ensure combustion without reducing the oxygen
concentration of the atmosphere below 19.5 percent
by volume?
Whenever combustion- type equipment is used in a
confined space, are provisions made to ensure the
exhaust gases are vented outside of the enclosure?
Is each confined space checked for decaying vegeta-tion
or animal matter that may produce methane?
Is the confined space checked for possible industrial
waste that could contain toxic properties?
If the confined space is below the ground and near
areas where motor vehicles are operating, is it possi-ble
for vehicle exhaust or carbon monoxide to enter
the space?
Environmental Controls
Are all work areas properly illuminated?
Are employees instructed in proper first aid and
other emergency procedures?
Are hazardous substances, blood and other potentially
infectious materials that may cause harm by inhalation,
ingestion, or skin absorption or contact identified?
Are employees aware of the hazards involved with
the various chemicals they may be exposed to in
their work environment, such as ammonia, chlorine,
epoxies, caustics, etc.?
Is employee exposure to chemicals in the workplace
kept within acceptable levels?
Are the safest methods and products being used?
Is the work area’s ventilation system appropriate for
the work being performed?
Are spray painting operations done in spray rooms or
booths equipped with an appropriate exhaust system?
Is employee exposure to welding fumes controlled
by ventilation, use of respirators, exposure time or
other means?
Are welders and other workers nearby provided with
flash shields during welding operations?
If forklifts and other vehicles are used in buildings or
other enclosed areas, are the carbon monoxide levels
kept below maximum acceptable concentration?
Has there been a determination that noise levels in
the facilities are within acceptable levels?
Are steps being taken to use engineering controls to
reduce excessive noise levels?
Are proper precautions being taken when handling
asbestos and other fibrous materials?
Are caution labels and signs used to warn of haz-ardous
substances ( e. g., asbestos) and biohazards
( e. g., bloodborne pathogens)?
Are wet methods used, when practicable, to prevent
the emission of airborne asbestos fibers, silica dust
and similar hazardous materials?
Are engineering controls examined and maintained
or replaced on a scheduled basis?
Is vacuuming with appropriate equipment used when-ever
possible rather than blowing or sweeping dust?
Are grinders, saws and other machines that produce
respirable dusts vented to an industrial collector or
central exhaust system?
Are all local exhaust ventilation systems designed
and operating properly such as air flow and volume
necessary for the application, ducts not plugged, or
belts slipping?
Is personal protective equipment provided, used and
maintained wherever required?
Are there written standard operating procedures for
the selection and use of respirators where needed?
Are restrooms and washrooms kept clean and sanitary?
Is all water provided for drinking, washing and
cooking potable?
25
Are all outlets for water not suitable for drinking
clearly identified?
Are employees’ physical capacities assessed before
being assigned to jobs requiring heavy work?
Are employees instructed in the proper manner of
lifting heavy objects?
Where heat is a problem, have all fixed work areas
been provided with spot cooling or air conditioning?
Are employees screened before assignment to areas
of high heat to determine if their health condition
might make them more susceptible to having an
adverse reaction?
Are employees working on streets and roadways
where they are exposed to the hazards of traffic
required to wear brightly colored ( traffic orange)
warning vests?
Are exhaust stacks and air intakes so located that
contaminated air will not be recirculated within a
building or other enclosed area?
Is equipment producing ultraviolet radiation proper-ly
shielded?
Are universal precautions observed where occupa-tional
exposure to blood or other potentially infec-tious
materials can occur and in all instances where
differentiation of types of body fluids or potentially
infectious materials is difficult or impossible?
Flammable and Combustible Materials
Are combustible scrap, debris, and waste materials
( oily rags, etc.) stored in covered metal receptacles
and removed from the worksite promptly?
Is proper storage practiced to minimize the risk of
fire, including spontaneous combustion?
Are approved containers and tanks used for the storage
and handling of flammable and combustible liquids?
Are all connections on drums and combustible liq-uid
piping vapor and liquid tight?
Are all flammable liquids kept in closed containers
when not in use ( e. g., parts cleaning tanks, pans, etc.)?
Are bulk drums of flammable liquids grounded and
bonded to containers during dispensing?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible
liquids have explosion- proof lights?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible
liquids have mechanical or gravity ventilation?
Is liquefied petroleum gas stored, handled, and used
in accordance with safe practices and standards?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted on liquefied
petroleum gas tanks?
Are liquefied petroleum storage tanks guarded to
prevent damage from vehicles?
Are all solvent wastes and flammable liquids kept in
fire- resistant covered containers until they are
removed from the worksite?
Is vacuuming used wherever possible rather than
blowing or sweeping combustible dust?
Are firm separators placed between containers of
combustibles or flammables, when stacked one upon
another, to ensure their support and stability?
Are fuel gas cylinders and oxygen cylinders separated
by distance, fire- resistant barriers, etc., while in storage?
Are fire extinguishers selected and provided for the
types of materials in areas where they are to be used?
Class A Ordinary combustible material fires.
Class B Flammable liquid, gas or grease fires.
Class C Energized electrical equipment fires.
Are appropriate fire extinguishers mounted within
75 feet of outside areas containing flammable
liquids and within 10 feet of any inside storage area
for such materials?
Are extinguishers free from obstructions or blockage?
Are all extinguishers serviced, maintained and
tagged at intervals not to exceed one year?
Are all extinguishers fully charged and in their
designated places?
Where sprinkler systems are permanently installed,
are the nozzle heads so directed and arranged that
water will not be sprayed into operating electrical
switch boards and equipment?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted where appropri-ate
in areas where flammable or combustible materi-als
are used or stored?
Are safety cans used for dispensing flammable or
combustible liquids at a point of use?
Are all spills of flammable or combustible liquids
cleaned up promptly?
Are storage tanks adequately vented to prevent the
development of excessive vacuum or pressure as a result
of filling, emptying or atmosphere temperature changes?
26
Are storage tanks equipped with emergency venting
that will relieve excessive internal pressure caused
by fire exposure?
Are “ NO SMOKING” rules enforced in areas
involving storage and use of hazardous materials?
Hazardous Chemical Exposure
Are employees trained in the safe handling practices
of hazardous chemicals, such as acids and caustics?
Are employees aware of the potential hazards
involving various chemicals stored or used in the
workplace, such as acids, bases, caustics, epoxies,
phenols, etc.?
Is employee exposure to chemicals kept within
acceptable levels?
Are eye wash fountains and safety showers provided
in areas where corrosive chemicals are handled?
Are all containers, such as vats, storage tanks, etc.,
labeled as to their contents, for example, “ CAUSTICS”?
Are all employees required to use personal protective
clothing and equipment when handling chemicals
( gloves, eye protection, respirators, etc.)?
Are flammable or toxic chemicals kept in closed
containers when not in use?
Are chemical piping systems clearly marked as to
their content?
Where corrosive liquids are frequently handled in
open containers or drawn from storage vessels or
pipe lines, are adequate means readily available for
neutralizing or disposing of spills or overflows
properly and safely?
Have standard operating procedures been estab-lished
and are they being followed when cleaning up
chemical spills?
Where needed for emergency use, are respirators
stored in a convenient, clean and sanitary location?
Are respirators intended for emergency use adequate
for the various uses for which they may be needed?
Are employees prohibited from eating in areas
where hazardous chemicals are present?
Is personal protective equipment provided, used and
maintained whenever necessary?
Are there written standard operating procedures for
the selection and use of respirators where needed?
If you have a respirator protection program, are your
employees instructed on the correct usage and limita-tions
of the respirators? Are the respirators NIOSH
approved for this particular application? Are they regu-larly
inspected and cleaned, sanitized and maintained?
If hazardous substances are used in your processes,
do you have a medical or biological monitoring
system in operation?
Are you familiar with the threshold limit values or
permissible exposure limits of airborne contami-nants
and physical agents used in your workplace?
Have control procedures been instituted for haz-ardous
materials, where appropriate, such as respira-tors,
ventilation systems, handling practices, etc.?
Whenever possible, are hazardous substances han-dled
in properly designed and exhausted booths or
similar locations?
Do you use general dilution or local exhaust ventila-tion
systems to control dusts, vapors, gases, fumes,
smoke, solvents or mists that may be generated in
your workplace?
Is ventilation equipment provided for removal of
contaminants from such operations as production,
grinding, buffing, spray painting and/ or vapor
degreasing and is it operating properly?
Do you monitor employees to make sure there are
no complaints about dizziness, headaches, nausea,
irritation or other discomfort when they use solvents
or other chemicals?
Do you watch for employee health problems such as
dryness, irritation or sensitization of the skin?
Have you considered the use of an industrial hygien-ist
or environmental health specialist to evaluate
your operation?
If internal combustion engines are used, is carbon
monoxide kept within acceptable levels?
Is vacuuming used, rather than blowing or sweeping
dusts, whenever possible for cleanup?
Are materials that give off toxic, asphyxiant, suffo-cating
or anesthetic fumes stored in remote or isolat-ed
locations when not in use?
Respiratory Protection Program
In any workplace where respirators are necessary to
protect the health of the employee or whenever respirators
are required by the employer, established and implement-ed
a written respiratory protection program with worksite-specific
procedures? The program must be updated as
necessary to reflect those changes in workplace condi-tions
that affect respirator use. You must include in the
program the following provisions as applicable:
27
11. Procedures for selecting respirators for use in
the workplace,
12. Medical evaluations of employees required
to use respirators,
13. Fit testing procedures for tight- fitting respirators,
14. Procedures for proper use of respirators in
routine and reasonably foreseeable emer-gency
situations,
15. Procedures and schedules for cleaning,
disinfecting, storing, inspecting, repairing,
discarding and otherwise maintaining
respirators,
16. Procedures to ensure adequate air quality,
quantity and flow of breathing air for
atmosphere- supplying respirators,
17. Training of employees in the respiratory haz-ards
to which they are potentially exposed
during routine and emergency situations,
18. Training of employees in the proper use of
respirators, including putting on and remov-ing
them, any limitations on their use, and
their maintenance,
19. Procedures for regularly evaluating the effec-tiveness
of the program.
Hazardous Substances Communication
Is there a list of hazardous substances used in your
workplace?
Is there a current written exposure control plan for
occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and
other potentially infectious materials, where applicable?
Is there a written hazard communication program
dealing with material safety data sheets ( MSDS),
labeling and employee training?
Is each container for a hazardous substance ( including
vats, bottles and storage tanks) labeled with product
identity and a hazard warning ( communication of the
specific health hazards and physical hazards)?
Is there a material safety data sheet readily available
for each hazardous substance used?
Is there an employee training program for hazardous
substances?
This program needs to include:
11. An explanation of what an MSDS is and how
to use and obtain one.
12. MSDS contents for each hazardous sub-stance
or class of substances.
13. Explanation of “ right to know.”
14. Identification of where employees can see the
employer’s written hazard communication
program and where hazardous substances are
present in their work areas.
15. Physical and health hazards of substances in
the work area and specific protective mea-sures
to be used.
16. Details of the hazard communication pro-gram,
including how to use the labeling sys-tem
and MSDSs.
The employee training program on the bloodborne
pathogens standard needs to contain the following
elements:
11. An accessible copy of the standard and an
explanation of its contents.
12. A general explanation of the epidemiology
and symptoms of bloodborne diseases.
13. An explanation of the modes of transmission
of bloodborne pathogens.
14. An explanation of the employer’s exposure
control plan and the means by which employ-ees
can obtain a copy of the written plan.
15. An explanation of the appropriate methods
for recognizing tasks and other activities that
may involve exposure to blood and other
potentially infectious materials.
16. An explanation of the use and limitations of
methods that will prevent or reduce exposure,
including appropriate engineering controls,
work practices and personal protective equip-ment.
17. Information on the types, proper use, loca-tion,
removal, handling, decontamination and
disposal of personal protective equipment.
18. An explanation of the basis for selection of
personal protective equipment.
19. Information on the hepatitis B vaccine.
10. Information on the appropriate actions to
take and people to contact in an emergency
involving blood or other potentially infec-tious
materials.
11. An explanation of the procedure to follow if an
exposure incident occurs, including the meth-ods
of reporting the incident and the medical
follow- up that will be made available.
12. Information on post- exposure evaluations
and follow- up.
13. An explanation of signs, labels and color
coding.
28
Are employees trained in the following:
How to recognize tasks that might result in occupa-tional
exposure?
How to use work practice and engineering controls
and personal protective equipment and to know their
limitations?
How to obtain information on the types, selection,
proper use, location, removal, handling, decontami-nation
and disposal of personal protective equip-ment?
Who to contact and what to do in an emergency?
Electrical
Do you specify compliance with OSHA standards
for all contract electrical work?
Are all employees required to report as soon as
practicable any obvious hazard to life or property
observed in connection with electrical equipment or
lines?
Are employees instructed to make preliminary
inspections and/ or appropriate tests to determine
what conditions exist before starting work on elec-trical
equipment or lines?
When electrical equipment or lines are to be serviced,
maintained or adjusted, are necessary switches
opened, locked out and tagged whenever possible?
Are portable electrical tools and equipment ground-ed
or of the double- insulated type?
Are electrical appliances such as vacuum cleaners,
polishers and vending machines grounded?
Do extension cords being used have a grounding
conductor?
Are multiple- plug adapters prohibited?
Are ground- fault circuit interrupters installed on
each temporary 15 or 20 ampere, 120 volt AC
circuit at locations where construction, demolition,
modifications, alterations or excavations are being
performed?
Are all temporary circuits protected by suitable
disconnecting switches or plug connectors at the
junction with permanent wiring?
Do you have electrical installations in hazardous
dust or vapor areas? If so, do they meet the National
Electrical Code ( NEC) for hazardous locations?
Are exposed wiring and cords with frayed or deteri-orated
insulation repaired or replaced promptly?
Are flexible cords and cables free of splices or taps?
Are clamps or other securing means provided on
flexible cords or cables at plugs, receptacles, tools
and equipment, and is the cord jacket securely held
in place?
Are all cord, cable and raceway connections intact
and secure?
In wet or damp locations, are electrical tools and
equipment appropriate for the use or location or oth-erwise
protected?
Is the location of electrical power lines and cables
( overhead, underground, underfloor, other side of
walls) determined before digging, drilling or similar
work is begun?
Are metal measuring tapes, ropes, handlines or simi-lar
devices with metallic thread woven into the fabric
prohibited where they could come in contact with
energized parts of equipment of circuit conductors?
Is the use of metal ladders prohibited in areas where
the ladder or the person using the ladder could come
in contact with energized parts of equipment, fix-tures
or circuit conductors?
Are all disconnecting switches and circuit breakers
labeled to indicate their use or equipment served?
Are disconnecting means always opened before
fuses are replaced?
Do all interior wiring systems include provisions for
grounding metal parts of electrical raceways, equip-ment
and enclosures?
Are all electrical raceways and enclosures securely
fastened in place?
Are all energized parts of electrical circuits and
equipment guarded against accidental contact by
approved cabinets or enclosures?
Is sufficient access and working space provided and
maintained about all electrical equipment to permit
ready and safe operations and maintenance?
Are all unused openings ( including conduit knock-outs)
in electrical enclosures and fittings closed with
appropriate covers, plugs or plates?
Are electrical enclosures such as switches, recepta-cles,
junction boxes, etc., provided with tight- fitting
covers or plates?
Are disconnecting switches for electrical motors in
excess of 2 horsepower capable of opening the circuit
when the motor is in a stalled condition without explod-ing?
( The horsepower rating of switches must be equal
to or in excess of the motor’s horsepower rating.)
29
Is low voltage protection provided in the control
device of motors driving machines or equipment
that could cause probable injury from inadvertent
starting?
Is each motor disconnecting switch or circuit break-er
located within sight of the motor control device?
Is each motor located within sight of its controller or
the controller disconnecting means capable of being
locked in the open position or is a separate discon-necting
means installed in the circuit within sight of
the motor?
Is the controller for each motor in excess of 2 horse-power
rated in horsepower equal to or in excess of
the rating of the motor it serves?
Are employees who regularly work on or around
energized electrical equipment or lines instructed in
cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR)?
Are employees prohibited from working alone on
energized lines or equipment over 600 volts?
Noise
Does every area in the workplace have a continuous
noise level that does not exceed 85 dBA?
Is there an ongoing preventive health program to
educate employees in safe levels of noise, exposures,
effects of noise on their health and the use of personal
protection?
Have work areas where noise levels make voice
communication between employees difficult been
identified and posted?
Are noise levels being measured using a sound level
meter or octave band analyzer and are records being
kept?
Have engineering controls been used to reduce
excessive noise levels? Where engineering controls
are determined to not be feasible, are administrative
controls ( such as worker rotation) being used to
minimize individual employee exposure to noise?
Is approved hearing protective equipment ( noise
attenuating devices) available to every employee
working in noisy areas?
Have you tried isolating noisy machinery from the
rest of your operation?
If you use ear protectors, are employees properly fit-ted
and instructed in their use?
Are employees in high noise areas given periodic
audiometric testing to ensure that you have an effec-tive
hearing protection system?
Fueling
Is it prohibited to fuel an internal combustion engine
with a flammable liquid while the engine is running?
Are fueling operations done in such a manner that
likelihood of spillage will be minimal?
When spillage occurs during fueling operations, is
the spilled fuel washed away completely, evaporat-ed,
or other measures taken to control vapors before
restarting the engine?
Are fuel tank caps replaced and secured before start-ing
the engine?
In fueling operations, is there always metal contact
between the container and the fuel tank?
Are fueling hoses of a type designed to handle the
specific type of fuel?
Is it prohibited to handle or transfer gasoline in open
containers?
Are open lights, open flames, or sparking or arcing
equipment prohibited near fueling or transfer of fuel
operations?
Is smoking prohibited in the vicinity of fueling oper-ations?
Are fueling operations prohibited in buildings or
other enclosed areas that are not specifically venti-lated
for this purpose?
Where fueling or transfer of fuel is done through a
gravity flow system, are the nozzles of the self- clos-ing
type?
Identification of Piping Systems
When nonpotable water is piped through a facility,
are outlets or taps posted to alert employees that it is
unsafe and not to be used for drinking, washing or
other personal use?
When hazardous substances are transported through
above ground piping, is each pipeline identified at
points where confusion could introduce hazards to
employees?
When a pipeline is identified by color painting, are
all visible parts of the line so identified?
When pipelines are identified by color painted bands
or tapes, are the bands or tapes located at reasonable
intervals and at each outlet, valve or connection?
When pipelines are identified by color, is the color
code posted at all locations where confusion could
introduce hazards to employees?
30
When the contents of pipelines are identified by
name or name abbreviation, is the information readi-ly
visible on the pipe near each valve or outlet?
When pipelines carrying hazardous substances are
identified by tags, are the tags constructed of
durable materials, the message carried clearly and
permanently distinguishable, and are tags installed
at each valve or outlet?
When pipelines are heated by electricity, steam or
another external source, are suitable warning signs
or tags placed at unions, valves or other serviceable
parts of the system?
Materials Handling
Is there safe clearance for equipment through aisles
and doorways?
Are aisleways designated, permanently marked and
kept clear to allow unhindered passage?
Are motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment
inspected daily or before use?
Are vehicles shut off and brakes set before loading
or unloading?
Are containers of combustibles or flammables, when
stacked while being moved, always separated by
dunnage sufficient to provide stability?
Are dock boards ( bridge plates) used when loading
or unloading operations are taking place between
vehicles and docks?
Are trucks and trailers secured from movement dur-ing
loading and unloading operations?
Are dock plates and loading ramps constructed and
maintained with sufficient strength to support
imposed loading?
Are hand trucks maintained in safe operating condition?
Are chutes equipped with sideboards of sufficient
height to prevent the materials being handled from
falling off?
Are chutes and gravity roller sections firmly placed
or secured to prevent displacement?
At the delivery end of the rollers or chutes, are pro-visions
made to brake the movement of the handled
materials?
Are pallets inspected before being loaded or moved?
Are hooks with safety latches or other arrangements
used when hoisting materials so that slings or load
attachments will not accidentally slip off the hoist
hooks?
Are securing chains, ropes, chockers or slings ade-quate
for the job to be performed?
When hoisting material or equipment, are provisions
made to ensure no one will be passing under the sus-pended
loads?
Are material safety data sheets available to employ-ees
handling hazardous substances?
Transporting Employees and Materials
Do employees who operate vehicles on public
thoroughfares have valid operator’s licenses?
When seven or more employees are regularly trans-ported
in a van, bus or truck, is the operator’s license
appropriate for the class of vehicle being driven?
Is each van, bus or truck used regularly to transport
employees equipped with an adequate number of seats?
When employees are transported by truck, are provi-sions
provided to prevent their falling from the vehicle?
Are vehicles used to transport employees equipped
with lamps, brakes, horns, mirrors, windshields and
turn signals in good repair?
Are transport vehicles provided with handrails, steps,
stirrups or similar devices, so placed and arranged
that employees can safely mount and dismount?
Are employee transport vehicles equipped at all
times with at least two reflective type flares?
Is a fully charged fire extinguisher, in good condi-tion,
with at least a 4 B: C rating maintained in each
employee transport vehicle?
When cutting tools or tools with sharp edges are car-ried
in passenger compartments of employee transport
vehicles, are they placed in closed boxes or containers
that are secured in place?
Are employees prohibited from riding on top of any
load that can shift, topple or otherwise become
unstable?
Control of Harmful Substances by Ventilation
Is the volume and velocity of air in each exhaust
system sufficient to gather the dusts, fumes, mists,
vapors or gases to be controlled and to convey them
to a suitable point of disposal?
Are exhaust inlets, ducts and plenums designed,
constructed and supported to prevent collapse or
failure of any part of the system?
Are clean- out ports or doors provided at intervals
not to exceed 12 feet in all horizontal runs of
exhaust ducts?
31
Are proper safeguards taken to ensure that where
two or more different types of operations are being
controlled through the same exhaust system, the
combination of substances being controlled do not
constitute a fire, explosion or chemical reaction
hazard in the duct?
Is adequate makeup air provided to areas where
exhaust systems are operating?
Is the source point for makeup air located so that
only clean, fresh air, which is free of contaminants,
will enter the work environment?
Where two or more ventilation systems are serving a
work area, is their operation such that one will not
offset the function of the other?
Sanitizing Equipment and Clothing
Is personal protective clothing or equipment that
employees are required<

Click tabs to swap between content that is broken into logical sections.

A Guide to OSHA for
Small Businesses in
North Carolina
N. C. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Division
1101 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699- 1101
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
41
N. C. Department of Labor
Occupational Safety and Health Program
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
OSHA State Plan Designee
Allen McNeely
Deputy Commissioner for Safety and Health
Kevin Beauregard
Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Safety and Health
Ed Lewis
Reviewer
Acknowledgment
This guide is based upon the OSHA Handbook for Small Businesses, published by the U. S. Department of
Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, with changes to reflect the OSHA program in North
Carolina. The information in this guide was reviewed in 2007 with no changes.
This guide is intended to be consistent with all existing OSHA standards; therefore, if an area is considered by
the reader to be inconsistent with a standard, then the OSHA standard should be followed.
To obtain additional copies of this guide, or if you have questions about N. C. occupational safety and health standards or
rules, please contact:
N. C. Department of Labor
Education, Training and Technical Assistance Bureau
1101 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699- 1101
Phone: ( 919) 807- 2875 or 1- 800- NC- LABOR ( 1- 800- 625- 2267)
____________________
Additional sources of information are listed on the inside back cover of this guide.
____________________
The projected cost of the NCDOL OSH program for federal fiscal year 2007– 2008 is $ 16,143,161. Federal funding provides approximately 32 percent ($ 5,180,570) of
this fund.
Reviewed 8/ 07
Contents
Part Page
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1iiv
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ivi1
2 A Four- Point Workplace Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii13
3 Starting Your Voluntary Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii17
4 Self- Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii11
Self- Inspection Checklists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii13
5 Assistance in Problem Solving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii32
Overall Action Plan Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii37
iii
v
North Carolina is a state built on the success of its
small businesses. From the small manufacturing plants
located along our mountain roads to the restaurants lining
our beaches, small business owners and workers build
North Carolina’s economic backbone.
No one doubts that small business employers often
face special challenges in dealing with workplace safety
and health hazards. Unlike large corporations, which can
afford to hire full- time safety engineers and industrial
hygienists, small businesses usually must rely on consul-tants,
workshops and other methods to meet their safety
goals.
This is why the N. C. Department of Labor has created
this publication— to help small business employers
establish their own safety and health programs. This
booklet advises employers on how to manage safety and
health protection at their own worksites and explains
how to obtain free, on- site consultative visits by safety
and health professionals.
In North Carolina, the N. C. Department of Labor
enforces the federal Occupational Safety and Health
Act. NCDOL offers many educational programs to the
public and produces publications to help inform people
about their rights and responsibilities regarding occupa-tional
safety and health.
When reading this guide, please remember the mis-sion
of the N. C. Department of Labor is greater than just
regulatory enforcement. An equally important goal is to
help citizens find ways to create safe workplaces.
Everyone profits when managers and employees work
together for safety. Using A Guide to OSHA for Small
Businesses in North Carolina is a great place to start.
Cherie Berry
Commissioner of Labor
Foreword
A Profit and Loss Statement
As a small business owner, you are characteristically
a risk taker. You wager your business acumen against
larger, perhaps more heavily financed corporate groups
and other free- spirited, self- employed individuals like
yourself. Excitement and challenge are the natural
elements in such a venture. But to succeed, you need
good management information, an ability to be a good
manager of people, and the intelligence and inner strength
both to make decisions and to make the right decisions.
Thousands of workers die each year, and many, many
more suffer injury or illness from conditions at work. But
how often does an owner or manager like you actually see
or even hear about work- related deaths, serious injuries or
illnesses in the businesses with which you are familiar?
How often has your business actually sustained this type
of loss?
In most small businesses, the answer is rarely. For this
reason, many owners/ managers do not understand why
there is controversy about OSHA, job safety and health
standards, inspections, citations, etc.
But others have learned why. Unfortunately, they have
had to go through the kind of loss we are talking about.
And these owners/ managers will tell you that it is too late
to do anything once a serious accident happens. They now
know that prevention is the only real way to avoid this
loss.
Reducing all losses is a goal that you as an owner or
manager clearly share with us in the NCDOL’s Occupa-tional
Safety and Health Division ( OSH). Each of us may
see this goal in a slightly different light, but it remains our
common intent.
We have learned from small employers, like you, that
you place a high value on the health and well- being of your
employees. Like many small businesses, you probably
employ family members and personal acquaintances. And,
if you don’t know your employees before they are hired,
then chances are that the very size of your workgroup and
workplace will promote the closeness and concern for one
another that small businesses value.
Assuming that your commitment to safe and healthful
work practices is a given ingredient, we in OSH want to
work with you to prevent all losses. We believe that when
you make job safety and health a real part of your every-day
operations, you cannot lose in the long run.
Successful safety and health activity now will enable
you to avoid possible losses in the future.
Developing a Profitable Strategy
for Handling Occupational Safety
and Health
Many people confuse the idea of “ accidents” with the
notion of acts of God. The difference is clear. Floods and
tornadoes cannot be prevented by the owner or manager
of a small business. But workplace accidents can be pre-vented.
Nobody wants accidents to happen in his or her busi-ness.
A serious fire or the death of an employee or an
owner can cause the loss of a great amount of profit or, in
some cases, even an entire business. To prevent such loss-es,
you don’t have to turn your place upside down. You
may not have to spend a lot of money either. You may
only need to use good business sense and to apply recog-nized
prevention principles.
There are reasons why accidents happen. Something
goes wrong somewhere. It may take some thought, and
maybe the help of friends or other trained people, to
figure out what went wrong, but there will be a cause— a
reason why. Once you know the cause, it is possible to
prevent an accident. You need some basic facts and
perhaps some help from others who know some of the
answers already. You also need a plan— a plan for
preventing accidents.
Not all danger at your worksite depends on an accident
to cause harm, of course. Worker exposure to toxic chem-icals
or harmful levels of noise or radiation may happen
in conjunction with routine work as well as by accident.
You may not realize the extent of the exposure on the part
of you and/ or your employees or the harm that may result.
The effect may not appear immediately, but it may be
fatal in the long run. You need a plan that includes pre-vention
of these “ health hazard exposures” as well as
accidents. You need a safety and health protection plan.
It is not a difficult task to develop such a plan.
Basically, you only need to concern yourself with those
types of accidents and health hazard exposures that could
happen in your workplace.
Because each workplace is different, your program
may be different from one that your neighbor or your
1
1.
Introduction
competitor might use. But this is not important. You want
it to reflect your way of doing business, not theirs.
While the details may vary, there are four basic
elements that are always found in workplaces with a good
accident prevention program. They are:
1. The manager or management team leads the way,
especially by setting policy, assigning and support-ing
responsibility, setting an example, and
involving employees.
2. The worksite is continually analyzed to identify all
hazards and potential hazards.
3. Methods for preventing or controlling existing or
potential hazards are put in place and maintained.
4. Managers, supervisors and employees are trained to
understand and deal with worksite hazards.
Regardless of the size of your business, you should use
each of these elements to prevent workplace accidents
and possible injuries and illnesses.
Developing a workplace program following these four
points should lead you to do all the things needed to pro-tect
you and your workers’ safety and health. If you
already have a program, reviewing it in relation to these
elements should help you improve what you have.
If you follow it, this four- point approach to safety and
health protection in your business should also help you to
improve efficiency. It may help you reduce insurance
claims and other costs. While it does not guarantee com-plete
compliance with OSHA standards, the approach will
help you toward full compliance and beyond. It will cer-tainly
give you a way to express and document your good
faith.
This approach usually does not involve large costs.
Especially in smaller businesses, it generally does not
require additional employees. Usually it can be integrated
into your other business functions with modest effort on
your part.
The key to the success of this plan is to see it as a part
of your business operation and to see it reflected in all
your work. As you continue doing it, the program
becomes easier. It becomes built- in and then you need
only check on it periodically to be sure everything is
working well.
In part 2, we give short titles for each of the elements
and then give short descriptions and illustrations for each.
Since most employers, like you, are pressed for time,
these descriptions are capsules of information to assist
you in thinking through and getting started on your own
approach.
2
The four- point workplace program described here is
based upon the Safety and Health Management
Guidelines issued by federal OSHA on Jan. 26, 1989.
Although voluntary, these guidelines represent OSHA’s
policy on what every worksite should have in place to
protect workers from occupational hazards. The guide-lines
are based heavily on OSHA’s experience with the
Voluntary Protection Programs ( VPP). These voluntary
programs are designed to recognize and promote effective
safety and health management as the best means of ensur-ing
a safe and healthful workplace.
Using the Four- Point Program
As you go through this part and those that follow, we
encourage you to use the action plan form that you can
remove or duplicate from the back of this publication to
jot down the actions that you wish to take to help make
your workplace safer and more healthful for your employ-ees.
Noting those actions as you go along will make it
much easier for you to assemble the total plan you need.
Point One:
Management Commitment and Employee
Involvement.
As the owner or manager of a small business, your atti-tude
toward job safety and health will be reflected by
your employees. If you are not interested in preventing
employee injury and illness, nobody else is likely to be.
At all times, demonstrate your personal concern for
employee safety and health and the priority you place on
them in your workplace. Your policy must be clearly set.
Only you can show its importance through your own
actions.
Demonstrate to your employees the depth of your com-mitment
by involving them in planning and carrying out
your efforts. If you seriously involve your employees in
identifying and resolving safety and health problems, they
will commit their unique insights and energy to helping
achieve the objectives of your program.
Consider forming a joint employee- management safety
committee. This can assist you in starting a program and
will help maintain interest in the program once it is oper-ating.
Committees can be an excellent way of communi-cating
safety and health information. If you have few
employees, consider rotating them so that all can have an
active part in the safety and health programming. The
men and women who work for you are among the most
valuable assets you have. Their safety, health and good-will
are essential to the success of your business. Having
them cooperate with you in protecting their safety and
health not only helps to keep them healthy— it makes
your job easier.
As a small business employer, you have inherent
advantages, such as close contact with your employees, a
specific acquaintance with the problems of the whole
business, and usually a low worker turnover. Probably
you have already developed a personal relationship of
loyalty and cooperation that can be built up very easily.
These advantages may not only increase your concern for
your employees but also may make it easier to get their
help.
Here are some actions to take:
Post your own policy on the importance of worker
safety and health next to the N. C. Department of
Labor’s “ Notice to Employees” poster where all
employees can see it.
Hold a meeting with all your employees to commu-nicate
that policy to them and to discuss your objec-tives
for safety and health for the rest of the year.
( These objectives will result from the decisions you
make about changes you think are needed after you
finish reading this publication.)
Make sure that support from the top is visible by
taking an active part, personally, in the activities
that are part of your safety and health program. For
example, personally review all inspection and acci-dent
reports to ensure follow- up when needed.
Ensure that you, your managers and supervisors
follow all safety requirements that employees must
follow, even if you are only in their area briefly. If,
for instance, you require a hard hat, safety glasses
and/ or safety shoes in an area, wear them yourself
when you are in that area.
Use your employees’ special knowledge and help
them buy into the program by having them make
inspections, put on safety training and/ or help inves-tigate
accidents.
Make clear assignments of responsibility for every
part of the program that you develop. Make certain
everyone understands them. The more people
3
2.
A Four- Point Workplace Program
involved the better. A good rule of thumb is to
assign safety and health responsibilities in the same
way you assign production responsibilities. Make it
a special part of everyone’s job to operate safely.
That way, as you grow and disperse production
responsibilities more widely, you will disperse safe-ty
and health responsibilities with them.
Give those with responsibility enough people, on-the-
clock time, training, money and authority to get
the job done.
Do not forget about it after you make assignments:
make sure personally that they get the job done.
Recognize and reward those who do well and cor-rect
those who don’t.
Take time, at least annually, to review what you
have accomplished against what you set as your
objectives and decide if you need new objectives or
program revisions to get where you want to be.
Point Two:
Worksite Analysis
It is your responsibility to know what you have in your
workplace that could hurt your workers. Worksite analysis
is a group of processes that helps you make sure that you
know what you need to keep your workers safe. You may
need help in getting started with these processes. You can
call on the state Consultative Services Bureau for this
help. ( See the inside back cover for address and telephone
number.) Once you get everything set up, you or your
employees can do many of them.
Here are some actions to take:
Request a consultation visit from the Consultative
Services Bureau covering both safety and health to
get a full survey of the hazards that exist in your
workplace and those that could develop. ( You can
also contract for such services from expert private
consultants if you prefer.)
Set up a way to get expert help when you make
changes, to be sure that the changes are not intro-ducing
new hazards into your workplace. Also, find
ways to stay current on newly recognized hazards in
your industry.
Make an assignment ( maybe to teams that include
employees) to look carefully at each job from time
to time, taking it apart step- by- step to see if there
are any hidden hazards in the equipment or proce-dures.
Some training may be necessary at the start.
Set up a system of checking to make sure that your
hazard controls have not failed and that new hazards
have not appeared. This is usually done by routine
self- inspections. You can use the checklists in part 4
of this book as a starting point. Add items to them
that better fit your situation. Subtract from them
those items that do not fit your situation.
Provide a way for your employees to let you or
another member of management know when they
see things that look harmful to them and encourage
them to use it.
Learn how to do a thorough investigation when
things do go wrong and someone gets sick or hurt.
This will help you find ways to prevent recurrences.
Initially, take the time to look back over several years
of injury or illness experience to identify patterns that
can lead to further prevention. Thereafter, periodical-ly
look back over several months of experience to
determine if any new patters are developing.
Point Three:
Hazard Prevention and Control
Once you know what your hazards and potential haz-ards
are, you are ready to put in place the systems that
prevent or control those hazards. Your state consultant
can help you do this.
Whenever possible, you will want to eliminate those
hazards. Sometimes that can be done through substitution
of a less toxic material or through engineering controls
that can be built in. When you cannot eliminate hazards,
systems should be set up to control them.
Here are some actions to take:
Set up safe work procedures, based on the analysis
of the hazards in your employees’ jobs ( discussed
above), and make sure that the employees doing
each job understand the procedures and follow
them. This may be easier if employees are involved
in the analysis that results in those procedures.
Be ready, if necessary, to enforce the rules for safe
work procedures by asking your employees to help
you set up a disciplinary system that will be fair and
understood by everyone.
Where necessary to protect your employees, provide
personal protective equipment ( PPE) and be sure
your employees know why they need it, how to use
it and how to maintain it.
Provide for regular equipment maintenance to pre-vent
breakdowns that can create hazards.
Plan for emergencies, including fire and natural dis-asters,
and drill everyone frequently enough so that
if the real thing happens, everyone will know what
to do even under stressful conditions.
4
Ask your state consultant to help you develop a
medical program that fits your worksite and
involves nearby doctors and emergency facilities.
Invite these medical personnel to visit the plant
before emergencies occur to help you plan the best
way to avoid injuries and illness during emergency
situations.
You must ensure the ready availability of medical
personnel for advice and consultation on matters of
employee health. This does not mean that you
must provide health care. But, if health problems
develop in your workplace, you are expected to get
medical help to treat them and their causes.
To fulfill the above requirements, consider the following:
You should have an emergency medical procedure
for handling injuries, transporting ill or injured
workers, and notifying medical facilities with a
minimum of confusion. Posting emergency numbers
is a good idea.
Survey the medical facilities near your place of
business and make arrangements for them to handle
routine and emergency cases. Cooperative agree-ments
could possibly be made with nearby larger
plants that have medical personnel and/ or facilities
on site.
You should have a procedure for reporting injuries
and illnesses that is understood by all employees.
If your business is remote from medical facilities,
you are required to ensure that one or more people
be adequately trained and available to render first
aid. Adequate first aid supplies must be readily
available for emergency use. Arrangements for this
training can be made through your local Red Cross
chapter, your insurance carrier, your local safety
council and others.
You should check battery charging stations, mainte-nance
operations, laboratories, heating and ventilat-ing
operations, and any corrosive materials areas to
make sure you have the required eye wash facilities
and showers.
Consider retaining a local doctor or an occupational
health nurse on a part- time or as- used basis to
advise you in your medical and first aid planning
Point Four:
Training for Employees, Supervisors and
Managers
An effective accident prevention program requires
proper job performance from everyone in the workplace.
As an owner or manager, you must ensure that all
employees know about the materials and equipment they
work with, what known hazards are in the operation, and
how you are controlling the hazards.
Each employee needs to know the following:
No employee is expected to undertake a job until he
or she has received job instructions on how to do it
properly and has been authorized to perform that
job.
No employee should undertake a job that appears
unsafe.
You may be able to combine safety and health training
with other training that you do, depending upon the kinds
of potential and existing hazards that you have. With
training, the “ proof is in the pudding” in that the result
that you want is all employees knowing what they need to
know to keep themselves and their fellow workers safe
and healthy.
Here are some actions to take:
Ask your state consultant to recommend training for
your worksite. The consultant may be able to do
some of the training while he or she is there.
Make sure you have trained your employees on
every potential hazard that they could be exposed to
and how to protect themselves. Then verify that they
really understand what you taught them.
Pay particular attention to your new employees and
to old employees who are moving to new jobs.
Because they are learning new operations, they are
more likely to get hurt.
Make sure that you train your supervisors to know
all the hazards that face the people they supervise
and how to reinforce training with quick reminders
and refreshers, and with disciplinary action if neces-sary.
Verify that they know what is expected of
them.
Make sure that you and your top management staff
understand all of your responsibilities and how to
hold subordinate supervisory employees account-able
for theirs.
Documenting Your Activities
Document your activities in all elements of the four-point
workplace program. Essential records, including
those legally required for workers’ compensation,
insurance audits and government inspections, must be
maintained as long as the actual need exists. Keeping
records of your activities, such as policy statements,
5
training sessions for management and employees safety
and health meetings held, information distributed to
employees, and medical arrangements made, is greatly
encouraged. Maintaining essential records also will aid:
1. The demonstration of sound business management
as supporting proof for credit applications, for
showing “ good faith” in reducing any proposed
penalties from OSH inspections, for insurance
audits and others; and
2. The efficient review of your current safety and
health activities for better control of your opera-tions
and to plan improvements.
Safety and Health Recordkeeping
Records of sales, costs, profits and losses are essential
to all successful businesses. They enable the owner or
manager to learn from experience and to make corrections
for future operations. Records of accidents, related
injuries, illnesses and property losses can serve the same
purpose, if they are used the same way. The sole purpose
of OSHA recordkeeping is to store factual information
about certain accidents that have happened. When the
facts have been determined, causes can often be identi-fied,
and control procedures can be instituted to prevent
similar occurrences from happening.
Injury/ Illness Records
There are injury/ illness recordkeeping requirements,
addressed in Part 1904 ( Recording and Reporting
Occupational Injuries and Illnesses), to cover OSHA
standards that require a minimum of paperwork. OSHA
issued a revised rule to improve the system that employers
use to track and record workplace injuries and illnesses.
The final rule became effective Jan. 1, 2002. The OSHA
Form 200 was replaced in the new rule. Three updated
recordkeeping forms were developed and are now in effect
as follows: The new OSHA Form 300 ( Log of Work-
Related Injuries and Illnesses) has been simplified and can
be printed on smaller legal- sized paper. The new OSHA
Form 301 ( Injury and Illness Incident Report) includes
more data about how the injury or illness occurred. The
new OSHA Form 300A ( Summary of Work- Related
Injuries and Illnesses) provides additional data to make it
easier for employers to calculate incidence rates.
Maintaining these records will provide you with one mea-sure
for evaluating the success of your safety and health
activities. Success would generally mean a lack of, or a
reduced number of, employee injuries and illnesses during
a calendar year.
There are five important steps required by the OSHA
recordkeeping system:
1. Obtain a report on every injury requiring medical
treatment ( other than first aid).
2. Record each injury on the OSHA 300 Log accord-ing
to the instructions provided.
3. Prepare a supplementary record of occupational
injuries and illnesses for recordable cases either on
OSHA Form No. 101 or on workers’ compensation
reports giving the same information.
4. Every year, prepare the annual summary ( OSHA
300 Log); post it no later than Feb. 1, and keep it
posted until April 30 ( ref. 1904.32). ( Next to the
N. C. Department of Labor’s workplace poster is a
good place to post it.)
5. Retain these records for at least five years.
During the year, periodically review the records to see
where injuries are occurring. Look for any patterns or
repeat situations. These records can help you to identify
high risk areas that demand your immediate attention.
Since the basic OSHA records include only injuries
and illnesses, you might consider expanding your own
system to include all incidents, including those where no
injury or illness resulted, if you think such information
would assist you in pinpointing unsafe conditions and/ or
procedures. Safety councils, insurance carriers and others
can assist you in instituting such a system.
Injury/ illness recordkeeping makes sense, and we rec-ommend
this practice to all employers. However, you
are not required to keep records under the OSHA injury/
illness recordkeeping system if you employ 10 or fewer
employees.
Regardless of the number of employees you have, you
may be selected for inclusion in an annual sample survey.
You will receive a letter directly from the N. C. Depart-ment
of Labor’s Research and Policy Division with
instructions if you are selected.
Exposure Records and Others
The injury/ illness records may not be the only records
you will need to maintain. Certain OSHA standards that
deal with toxic substances and hazardous exposures
require records on the exposure of employees, physical
examination reports, employment records, etc.
As you work on identifying hazards, you will be able
to determine whether these requirements apply to your
situation on a case- by- case basis. We mention it here so
that you will be aware of these records and that, if
required, they should be used with your control proce-dures
and with your self- inspection activity. They should
not be considered merely as bookkeeping.
6
7
You can use this basic action plan to get started on your
program.
To avoid confusion, we need to explain that this action
plan is not organized solely in the order of the four points
we described in part 2. Rather, it provides the most direct
route to getting yourself organized to complete your four-point
program.
When you have completed your action plan, your
activity should be organized around the four points
described in part 2.
Decide to Start Now
The time to start your safety and health program is now.
You have a better picture of what constitutes a good safety
and health program. Now you can address the practical
concerns of putting these elements together and coming up
with a program to suit your workplace.
Presumably you have been taking notes for your action
plan as you went through the preceding description of the
four- point program. You should be ready now to decide
exactly what you want to accomplish and to determine what
steps are necessary to achieve your goals. Then you will plan
how and when each step will be done and who will do it.
Your plan should consider your company’s immediate
needs and provide for ongoing, long- lasting worker protec-tion.
Once your plan is designed, it is important to follow
through and use it in the workplace. You will then have a
program to anticipate, identify and eliminate conditions or
practices that could result in injuries and illnesses.
If you have difficulty in deciding where to begin, a
phone call to the OSH Consultative Services Bureau will
get you the assistance you need. A state consultant will
survey your workplace for existing or potential hazards.
Then, if you request it, he or she will determine what you
need to make your safety and health program effective.
The consultant will work with you to develop a plan for
making these improvements and to establish procedures
for making sure that your program stays effective.
Whether you choose to work with a consultant or to
develop your program yourself, there are other publica-tions
similar to this one that spell out in greater detail the
steps you can take to create an effective safety and health
program for your workplace. The rewards for your efforts
will be a workplace with a high level of efficiency and
productivity and a low level of loss and injury.
Designating Responsibility
You must decide who in your company is the most
appropriate person to manage your safety and health
program. Who can be sure that the program will become
an integral part of the business? In many cases it will be
the owner. Sometimes it will be the plant manager or a
key supervisor. It could even be an engineer, personnel
specialist or other staff member.
You should choose someone who is as committed to
workplace safety and health as you are, who has the time
to devote to developing and managing the program, and
who is willing to take on the responsibility and account-ability
that goes with operating an effective program. The
success of your program hinges on the success of the
individual you choose, and he or she cannot succeed
without your full cooperation and support. Remember,
though, that even when you appoint someone as your
safety manager and delegate the authority to manage the
program, the ultimate responsibility for safety and health
in your workplace rests on you.
Having made your selection of a safety and health
manager, you or your designee and any others you choose
will need to take ( or be sure you have already taken) the
following actions.
Get Some Help on the Details
First, you may need to catch up with all the changes
made since the OSH Act became law in December 1970.
For example, the federal law contains provisions for
allowing a state to develop and operate its own occupa-tional
safety and health program in place of the federal
program. North Carolina has such an approved state plan
for occupational safety and health. The N. C. Department
of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Division is
charged with administering the state plan.
Second, you will need certain OSHA publications for
use in your safety and health activities:
1. OSHA workplace poster ( commonly called the
“ Notice to Employees” poster)— You must have the
state OSHA poster displayed in your workplace.
2. Standards that apply to your operations— You
need these standards for reference material in
your business. These are the regulations OSH
uses when inspecting for compliance with the act.
3.
Starting Your Voluntary Activity
8
These standards are the baseline for your own
inspections and are useful in determining what
specific changes need to be made when hazards
are identified. Most businesses come under the
North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health
Standards for General Industry, but if you are
involved with construction or maritime opera-tions,
you will need the standards that apply to
these classifications.
3. Recordkeeping requirements and the necessary
forms— You need these if you have 11 or more
employees. These forms are not too different from
other information forms you have been keeping for
workers’ compensation and other records.
4. Occupational Safety and Health Act of North
Carolina— You may want this for your own infor-mation
and reference in the future. ( See the inside
back cover of this publication for ordering informa-tion
regarding these publications.)
Clean Up Your Place of Business
Poor housekeeping is a major contributor to low morale
and sloppy work in general, even if it is not usually the
cause of major accidents. Most safety action programs
start with an intensive cleanup campaign in all areas of a
given business.
Get rid of rubbish that has collected; make sure proper
containers are provided; see that flammables are properly
stored; make sure that exits are not blocked; if necessary,
mark aisles and passageways; provide adequate lighting,
etc.
Get everyone involved and impress upon them exactly
what it is you want to do to make your workplace safer,
more healthful and more efficient.
Start Gathering Specific Facts
About Your Situation
Before you make any changes in your safety and health
operations, you will want to gather as much information
as possible about the current conditions at your workplace
and about business practices that are already part of your
safety and health program. This information can help you
identify workplace problems and see what is involved in
solving them.
The assessment of your workplace should be conducted
by the person responsible for the safety and health program
and/ or a professional safety and health consultant. It
consists of two major activities.
The first is a comprehensive safety and health survey
of your entire facility, designed to identify any existing or
potential safety and health hazards. This initial survey
should focus on evaluating workplace conditions with
respect to safety and health regulations and generally
recognized safe and healthful work practices. It should
include checking on the use of any hazardous materials,
observing employee work habits and practices, and dis-cussing
safety and health problems with employees. See
part 4, Self- Inspection Checklists, to help you get a good
start on creating this initial survey.
The second major activity is an assessment of your
existing safety and health program to identify areas that
may be working well and those that may need improve-ment.
You will want to gather as much information as you
can that relates to the safety and health management of
your workplace. You should include the following in this
review:
Safety and Health Activities— Examine current
ongoing activities as well as those tried previously,
company policy statements, rules ( both work and
safety), guidelines for proper work practices, and
procedures and records of training programs.
Equipment— Make a list of your major equipment,
principal operations and the locations of each.
Special attention should be given to inspection
schedules, maintenance activities, and plant and
office layouts.
Employees’ Capabilities— Make an alphabetical
list of all employees, showing the date they were
hired, what their jobs are, and what experience and
training they have had. Special attention should be
given to new employees and to employees with dis-abilities.
Accident and Injury/ Illness History— Take a look
at your first aid cases, workers’ compensation insur-ance
payments and workers’ compensation awards,
if any. Review any losses. Determine how your
insurance rate compares with others in your group.
Special attention should be given to recurring acci-dents,
types of injuries, etc.
With whatever facts you have been able to assemble,
take a quick look to see if any major problem areas can be
identified. You would be looking for such things as inter-ruptions
in your normal operations, too many employees
taking too much time off, too many damaged products
and so on. General assistance in this kind of problem
identification can often be obtained from compensation
carriers, local safety councils, state agencies, your major
suppliers and even, perhaps, a competitor.
9
If there is a major problem, see what can be done to
solve it. Once a problem is identified, you can work on
the corrective action or a plan for controlling the problem.
Take immediate action at this point and make a record of
what you have done. Do not become overly involved in
looking for major problem areas during this fact- finding
stage. Remember that no one hazardous situation causes
all of your safety and health problems. Therefore, it is
likely that no single action will greatly improve your
safety and health program.
Even if you have found no major problem at this point,
continue on. Now it is time to develop a comprehensive
safety and health program that meets your needs and
those of your employees. This will make it more difficult
for major problems to crop up in the future.
Establish Your Four- Point Safety
and Health Program
The success of any workplace safety and health pro-gram
depends on careful planning. This means that you
have taken time to think through what you want to
accomplish, and you may even have a general idea of
what it will take to accomplish your goals. Based on that,
you can design a step- by- step process that will take you
from the idea stage to having a fully effective operation.
The most effective way to create the safest possible
workplace for you and your employees is to institute the
four- point program discussed in part 2 of this handbook.
Use the guidance presented in part 2 to help you develop
your program.
Establish your management commitment and involve
your employees. No safety and health program will work,
especially in the long term, without this commitment and
involvement. You should have already taken the first step
by designating the person who will be responsible for
your program.
Be certain that your employees are as widely involved
in the program as possible from the beginning. They are
the people most in contact with the potential and actual
safety and health hazards at your worksite. They will have
constructive input into the development of your safety
and health program. Its ultimate success will depend upon
their support— support that will be more forthcoming for
a program created with their meaningful involvement.
Make sure your program assigns responsibility and
accountability to all employees in your organization. A
good safety and health program makes it clear that each
employee from you through the supervisory levels to the
line worker is responsible for his or her part of the pro-gram.
You will make their safety and health duties clear,
and each of them will be held accountable for his or her
safety- and health- related duties.
Refer to the recommended actions to take on page 4 in
part 2. These will help start your program off on the right
track. You will be building the foundation for a successful
safety and health program.
Establish and regularly conduct your worksite analysis.
You cannot have a successful safety and health program if
it has not identified all the hazards and potential hazards
present in your workplace. This is an ongoing process that
includes routine self- inspections if you are to know where
probable hazards exist and whether or not they are under
control.
Create the systems and procedures necessary to prevent
and control the hazards that have been identified through
your worksite analysis. These control procedures will be
your basic means for preventing accidents. The OSHA
standards that have been promulgated can be of great
assistance to you since they address controls in order of
effectiveness and preference. Where no standard exists,
creative problem solving and consultant resources should
help you create effective controls. The basic formula
OSHA follows is, in order of preference:
1. Eliminating the hazard from the machine, the
method, the material or the plant structure.
2. Abating the hazard by limiting exposure or control-ling
it at its source.
3. Training personnel to be aware of the hazard and to
follow safe work procedures to avoid it.
4. Prescribing personal protective equipment for pro-tecting
employees against the hazard.
Be sure to establish and provide ongoing training for
employees, supervisors and managers. This should ensure
that everyone at your worksite will know about the haz-ards
that exist and how to control them.
Each of these points is crucial if you want to establish a
safe and healthy workplace for you and your employees.
They also work together to reinforce each other, thereby
making it more difficult for accidents to occur and for
work- related health problems to develop.
Develop and Implement Your
Action Plan
Develop an action plan to help you build your safety
and health program around the four points discussed
above. It can serve as a road map to get your program
from where it is now to where you want it to be. It tells
you what has to be done, the logical order in which to do
it, who is responsible, and perhaps most important, where
10
you want to be when you finish. It is a specific descrip-tion
of the problems and solutions, but it is not ironclad—
it can and should be changed to correspond with changes
in the workplace.
A good action plan has two parts:
1. An overall list of the major changes or improve-ments
that are needed to make your safety and
health program effective. Assign each item a priori-ty
and a target date for completion, and identify the
person who will monitor or direct each action.
2. A specific plan on how to implement each major
change or improvement. Here, you would write out
what you wanted to accomplish, the steps required,
who would be assigned to do what, and when you
plan to be finished. This part of the action plan will
help you keep track of program improvements so
that details do not slip through the cracks. When
several improvements are being made at once, it is
easy to overlook something that may be an impor-tant
prerequisite for your next action.
A worksheet that may help you design an overall
action plan and describe specific action steps appears at
the end of this publication.
Once the plan has been established, you must begin
putting it into action. This begins with the item that has
been assigned the highest priority. Check to make sure it
is realistic and manageable, then address the steps you
have written out for that item. This detailed description of
the steps required will help you keep track of the develop-ment
that is taking place. Keep in mind that you can, of
course, work on more than one item at a time and that the
priorities may change as other needs are identified or as
your company’s resources change.
Open communication with your employees is crucial to
the success of your efforts. Their cooperation depends on
understanding what the safety and health program is all
about, why it is important to them, and how it affects their
work. The more you do to involve them in the changes
you are making, the smoother your transition will be.
By putting your action plan into operation at your
workplace, you will have taken a major step toward hav-ing
an effective safety and health program. Remember, a
safety and health program is a plan put into practice.
You can keep your program on track by periodically
checking its progress and by calling on a state or private
consultant when you need assistance.
Any good management system requires a periodic
review to make sure the system is operating as intended.
Every so often ( quarterly, semiannually, or annually) you
should take a careful look at each critical component in
your safety and health program to determine what is
working well and what changes are needed. Your consul-tant
can assist you in this area as well. When you identify
improvements that should be made, you have the basis for
new safety and health objectives for the coming year.
Developing new action plans for those improvements will
help you to continue to progress toward an effective safe-ty
and health program. That, in turn, will reduce your
safety and health risks and increase efficiency and profit.
Remember, however, that it is also important to docu-ment
your activities. The only way you can evaluate the
success of your safety and health program is to have the
documentation available to tell you what you have done,
to assess how it has worked, and to provide you with
guidance on how you can make it work even better.
Technical assistance may be available to you as a small
business owner or manager through your insurance carri-er,
your fellow business people, suppliers of your durable
equipment and raw materials, the local safety council, and
many local, state and federal agencies, including the
Occupational Safety and Health Division’s Consultative
Services Bureau. You may even find help in the yellow
pages of your telephone directory, which will give you the
names of many companies that specialize in items and
services relating to safety, health and fire prevention.
Establishing a quality safety and health program at
your place of business will take some time and involve
some resources. However, you should be pleasantly sur-prised
with the results. You will have happier employees
because they will know you are committed to their safety
and health on the job. You will probably save money
through increased productivity and reduced workers’
compensation insurance costs. You will find increased
respect in your community. The rewards you receive will
surely exceed the cost of your investment in safety and
health protection.
11
The most widely accepted way to identify hazards is to
conduct safety and health inspections. The only way you
can be certain of the actual situation is for you to look at it
from time to time.
Make a Self- Inspection of Your
Business
Begin a program of self- inspection in your own work-place.
Self- inspection is a must if you are to know
where probable hazards exist and whether they are under
control.
Later in this part, you will find checklists designed to
assist you in this fact- finding. They will give you some indi-cation
of where you should begin action to make your busi-ness
safer and more healthful for all of your employees.
These checklists are by no means all- inclusive. You
may wish to add to them or delete portions that do not
apply to your business. Consider carefully each item as
you come to it and then make your decision.
Don’t spend time with items that obviously have no
application to your business. Make sure each item is
seen by you or your designee, and leave nothing to
memory or chance. Write down what you see, or don’t
see, and what you think you should do about it.
When you have completed the checklists, add this
material to your injury information, your employee infor-mation,
and your process and equipment information. You
will now possess many facts that will help you determine
what problems exist. Then, if you use the OSHA stan-dards
in your problem- solving process, it will be much
easier for you to determine the action needed to solve
these problems.
Once the hazards have been identified, you can insti-tute
the control procedures described in part 3 and estab-lish
your four- point safety and health program.
Technical assistance in self- inspection may be
available to you as a small business owner or manager
through your insurance carrier, the local safety council,
and many local, state and federal agencies, including the
Occupational Safety and Health Division’s Consultative
Services Bureau.
Self- Inspection Scope
The scope of your self- inspections should include the
following:
Processing, Receiving, Shipping and Storage—
equipment, job planning, layout, heights, floor
loads, projection of materials, materials handling
and storage methods.
Building and Grounds Conditions— floors, walls,
ceilings, exits, stairs, walkways, ramps, platforms,
driveways and aisles.
Housekeeping Program— waste disposal, tools,
objects, materials, leakage and spillage, cleaning
methods, schedules, work areas, remote areas and
storage areas.
Electricity— equipment, switches, breakers, fuses,
switch boxes, junctions, special fixtures, circuits,
insulation, extensions, tools, motors, grounding and
NEC compliance.
Lighting— type, intensity, controls, conditions,
diffusion, location, and glare and shadow control.
Heating and Ventilation— type, effectiveness,
temperature, humidity, controls, natural and artifi-cial
ventilation, and exhausting.
Machinery— points of operation, flywheels, gears,
shafts, pulleys, key ways, belts, couplings, sprockets,
chains, frames, controls, lighting for tools and equip-ment,
brakes, exhausting, feeding, oiling, adjusting,
maintenance, lock out, grounding, work space, loca-tion,
and purchasing standards.
Personnel— training, experience, methods of check-ing
machines before use, type of clothing, personal
protective equipment, use of guards, tool storage,
work practices, and method of cleaning, oiling or
adjusting machinery.
Hand and Power Tools— purchasing standards,
inspection, storage, repair, types, maintenance,
grounding, use and handling.
Chemicals— storage, handling, transportation,
spills, disposal, amounts used, toxicity or other
4.
Self- Inspection
12
harmful effects, warning signs, supervision, train-ing,
and protective clothing and equipment.
Fire Prevention— extinguishers, alarms, sprinklers,
smoking rules, exits, personnel assigned, separation
of flammable materials and dangerous operations,
explosive- proof fixtures in hazardous locations, and
waste disposal.
Maintenance— regularity, effectiveness, training of
personnel, materials and equipment used, records
maintained, method of locking out machinery, and
general methods.
Personal Protective Equipment— type, size, main-tenance,
repair, storage, assignment of responsibility,
purchasing methods, standards observed, training in
care and use, rules of use, and method of assignment.
13
These checklists are by no means all- inclusive. You
should add to them or delete portions or items that do not
apply to your operations; however, carefully consider each
item as you come to it and then make your decision. You
also will need to refer to OSHA standards for complete and
specific standards that may apply to your work situation.
Employer Posting
Is the required OSHA workplace poster displayed in
a prominent location where all employees are likely
to see it?
Are emergency telephone numbers posted where
they can be readily found in case of emergency?
Where employees may be exposed to any toxic sub-stances
or harmful physical agents, has appropriate
information concerning employee access to medical
and exposure records and material safety data sheets
( MSDS) been posted or otherwise made readily
available to affected employees?
Are signs concerning “ Exiting from buildings,”
room capacities, floor loading, biohazards, expo-sures
to X- ray, microwave, or other harmful radia-tion
or substances posted where appropriate?
Is the summary of occupational injuries and
illnesses posted in the month of February?
Recordkeeping
Are all occupational injuries and illnesses, except
minor injuries requiring only first aid, being
recorded as required on the OSHA 300 log?
Are employee medical records and records of
employee exposure to hazardous substances or
harmful physical agents up- to- date and in compli-ance
with current OSHA standards?
Are employee training records kept and accessible
for review by employees, when required by OSHA
standards?
Have arrangements been made to maintain required
records for the legal period of time for each specific
type of record? ( Some records must be maintained
for at least 40 years.)
Are operating permits and records up- to- date for
such items as elevators, air pressure tanks, liquefied
petroleum gas tanks, etc.?
Safety and Health Program
Do you have an active safety and health program in
operation that deals with general safety and health
program elements as well as the management of
hazards specific to your worksite?
Is one person clearly responsible for the overall
activities of the safety and health program?
Do you have a safety committee or group made
up of management and employee representatives
that meets regularly and reports in writing on its
activities?
Do you have a working procedure for handling in-house
employee complaints regarding safety and
health?
Are you keeping your employees advised of the suc-cessful
effort and accomplishments you and/ or your
safety committee have made in ensuring they will
have a workplace that is safe and healthful?
Medical Services and First Aid
Is there a hospital, clinic or infirmary for medical
care in proximity of your workplace?
If medical and first aid facilities are not in proximity
of your workplace, is at least one employee on each
shift currently qualified to render first aid?
Have all employees who are expected to respond to
medical emergencies as part of their work*
( 1) received first aid training; ( 2) had hepatitis B
vaccination made available to them; ( 3) had appro-priate
training on procedures to protect them from
bloodborne pathogens, including universal precau-tions;
and ( 4) have available and understand how to
use appropriate personal protective equipment to
protect against exposure to bloodborne diseases?
Self- Inspection Checklists
_______________
* In North Carolina, seasonal or temporary workers who are
employed for six months or less who render first aid only as a
collateral duty do not have to be offered pre- exposure hepatitis
B vaccine if the employer puts the following requirements into
his/ her exposure control plan and implements them: ( 1) the
employer must record all first aid incidents involving the pres-ence
of blood or other potentially infectious materials before the
end of the work shift during which the first aid incident
occurred; ( 2) the employer must comply with post- exposure
evaluation, prophylaxis and followup requirements of the stan-dard
with respect to “ exposure incidents,” as defined by the
standard; ( 3) the employer must train designated first aid
providers about the reporting procedure; ( 4) the employer must
offer to initiate hepatitis B vaccination series within 24 hours to
all unvaccinated first aid providers who have rendered assis-tance
in any situation involving the presence of blood or other
potentially infectious materials.
14
Where employees have had an exposure incident
involving bloodborne pathogens, did you provide an
immediate post- exposure medical evaluation and
follow- up?
Are medical personnel readily available for advice
and consultation on matters of employees’ health?
Are emergency phone numbers posted?
Are first aid kits easily accessible to each work area,
with necessary supplies available, periodically
inspected and replenished as needed?
Have first aid kit supplies been approved by a physi-cian,
indicating that they are adequate for a particu-lar
area or operation?
Are means provided for quick drenching or flushing
of the eyes and body in areas where corrosive liq-uids
or materials are handled?
Fire Protection
Is your local fire department well acquainted with
your facilities, its location and specific hazards?
If you have a fire alarm system, is it certified as
required?
If you have a fire alarm system, is it tested at least
annually?
If you have interior stand pipes and valves, are they
inspected regularly?
If you have outside private fire hydrants, are they
flushed at least once a year and on a routine preven-tive
maintenance schedule?
Are fire doors and shutters in good operating condition?
Are fire doors and shutters unobstructed and protect-ed
against obstructions, including their counter-weights?
Are fire door and shutter fusible links in place?
Are automatic sprinkler system water control valves,
air and water pressure checked weekly/ periodically
as required?
Is the maintenance of automatic sprinkler systems
assigned to responsible people or to a sprinkler con-tractor?
Are sprinkler heads protected by metal guards, when
exposed to physical damage?
Is proper clearance maintained below sprinkler
heads?
Are portable fire extinguishers provided in adequate
number and type?
Are fire extinguishers mounted in readily accessible
locations?
Are fire extinguishers recharged regularly and noted
on the inspection tag?
Are employees periodically instructed in the use of
extinguishers and fire protection procedures?
Personal Protective Equipment and Clothing
: Personal Protection Equipment 1910.132( b)
[ Note: 1910.132( b) Personal Protective Equipment stan-dard
is amended to define the employer’s responsibilities
relating to the provision, adequacy and maintenance of
employee personal protective equipment. See 13 NCAC
07F. 101( 2) General Industry, State- Specific Standards.]
( b) Equipment. ( 1) Employer- provided equipment. It is
the responsibility of the employer to provide, at no cost to
the employee, all personal protective equipment which
the employee does not wear off the jobsite for use off the
job. ( 2) Employee- owned equipment. Where employees
provide their own protective equipment, the employer
shall be responsible to assure its adequacy, including
proper maintenance, and sanitation of such equipment.
Are protective goggles or face shields provided and
worn where there is any danger of flying particles or
corrosive materials?
Are approved safety glasses required to be worn at
all times in areas where there is a risk of eye injuries
such as punctures, abrasions, contusions or burns?
Are employees who need corrective lenses ( glasses
or contacts) in working environments having harm-ful
exposures required to wear only approved safety
glasses or protective goggles or use other medically
approved precautionary procedures?
Are protective gloves, aprons, shields or other
means provided and required where employees
could be cut or where there is reasonably anticipated
exposure to corrosive liquids, chemicals, blood or
other potentially infectious materials? ( See 29 CFR
1910.1030( b) for the definition of “ other potentially
infectious materials.”)
Are hard hats provided and worn where danger of
falling objects exists?
Are hard hats inspected periodically for damage to
the shell and suspension system?
Is appropriate foot protection required where there
is the risk of foot injuries from hot, corrosive, poi-sonous
substances, falling objects, crushing or
penetrating actions?
15
Are approved respirators provided for regular or
emergency use where needed?
Is all protective equipment maintained in a sanitary
condition and ready for use?
Do you have eye wash facilities and a quick drench
shower within the work area where employees are
exposed to injurious corrosive materials?
Where special equipment is needed for electrical
workers, is it available?
Where food or beverages are consumed on the
premises, are they consumed in areas where there is
no exposure to toxic material, blood or other poten-tially
infectious materials?
Is protection against the effects of occupational
noise exposure provided when sound levels exceed
those of the OSHA noise standard?
Are adequate work procedures, protective clothing,
and equipment provided and used when cleaning up
spilled toxic or otherwise hazardous materials and
liquids?
Are there appropriate procedures in place for dispos-ing
of or decontaminating personal protective equip-ment
contaminated with, or reasonably anticipated
to be contaminated with, blood or other potentially
infectious materials?
General Work Environment
Are all worksites clean, sanitary, and orderly?
Are work surfaces kept dry or appropriate means
taken to ensure the surfaces are slip- resistant?
Are all spilled hazardous materials or liquids,
including blood and other potentially infectious
materials, cleaned up immediately and according to
proper procedures?
Are combustible scrap, debris and waste stored safe-ly
and removed from the worksite promptly?
Is all regulated waste, as defined in the OSHA
bloodborne pathogens standard ( 29 CFR
1910.1030), discarded according to federal, state
and local regulations?
Are accumulations of combustible dust routinely
removed from elevated surfaces including the over-head
structure of buildings, etc.?
Is combustible dust cleaned up with a vacuum sys-tem
to prevent the dust going into suspension?
Is metallic or conductive dust prevented from
entering or accumulating on or around electrical
enclosures or equipment?
Are covered metal waste cans used for oily and
paint- soaked waste?
Are all oil and gas fired devices equipped with
flame failure controls that will prevent flow of fuel
if pilots or main burners are not working?
Are paint spray booths, dip tanks, etc., cleaned reg-ularly?
Are the minimum number of toilets and washing
facilities provided?
Are all toilets and washing facilities clean and sanitary?
Are all work areas adequately illuminated?
Are pits and floor openings covered or otherwise
guarded?
Walkways
Are aisles and passageways kept clear?
Are aisles and walkways marked as appropriate?
Are wet surfaces covered with nonslip materials?
Are holes in the floor, sidewalk or other walking
surfaces repaired properly, covered or otherwise
made safe?
Is there safe clearance for walking in aisles where
motorized or mechanical handling equipment is
operating?
Are materials or equipment stored in such a way that
sharp projectives will not interfere with the walkway?
Are spilled materials cleaned up immediately?
Are changes of direction or elevation readily identi-fiable?
Are aisles or walkways that pass near moving or
operating machinery, welding operations, or similar
operations arranged so employees will not be sub-jected
to potential hazards?
Is adequate headroom provided for the entire length
of any aisle or walkway?
Are standard guardrails provided wherever aisle or
walkway surfaces are elevated more than 30 inches
above any adjacent floor or the ground?
Are bridges provided over conveyors and similar
hazards?
16
Floor and Wall Openings
Are floor openings guarded by a cover, guardrail or
equivalent on all sides ( except at entrance to stair-ways
or ladders)?
Are toeboards installed around the edges of perma-nent
floor openings ( where people may pass below
the opening)?
Are skylight screens of such construction and
mounting that they will withstand a load of at least
200 pounds?
Is the glass in the windows, doors, glass walls, etc.,
which are subject to human impact, of sufficient
thickness and type for the condition of use?
Are grates or similar type covers over floor open-ings
such as floor drains of such design that foot
traffic or rolling equipment will not be affected by
the grate spacing?
Are unused portions of service pits and pits not actu-ally
in use either covered or protected by guardrails
or equivalent?
Are manhole covers, trench covers and similar cov-ers,
plus their supports, designed to carry a truck
rear axle load of at least 20,000 pounds when locat-ed
in roadways and subject to vehicle traffic?
Are floor or wall openings in fire- resistive construc-tion
provided with doors or covers compatible with
the fire rating of the structure and provided with a
self- closing feature when appropriate?
Stairs and Stairways
Are standard stair rails or handrails on all stairways
having four or more risers?
Are all stairways at least 22 inches wide?
Do stairs have landing platforms not less than 30
inches in the direction of travel and extend 22 inches
in width at every 12 feet or less of vertical rise?
Do stairs angle no more than 50 and no less than 30
degrees?
Are stairs of hollow- pan type treads and landings
filled to the top edge of the pan with solid material?
Are step risers on stairs uniform from top to bottom?
Are steps on stairs and stairways designed or pro-vided
with a surface that renders them slip resistant?
Are stairway handrails located between 30 and 34
inches above the leading edge of stair treads?
Do stairway handrails have at least 3 inches of clear-ance
between the handrails and the wall or surface
they are mounted on?
Where doors or gates open directly on a stairway, is
there a platform provided so the swing of the door
does not reduce the width of the platform to less
than 21 inches?
Are stairway handrails capable of withstanding a
load of 200 pounds, applied within 2 inches of the
top edge, in any downward or outward direction?
Where stairs or stairways exit directly into any area
where vehicles may be operated, are adequate barri-ers
and warnings provided to prevent employees
stepping into the path of traffic?
Do stairway landings have a dimension measured in
the direction of travel at least equal to the width of
the stairway?
Is the vertical distance between stairway landings
limited to 12 feet or less?
Elevated Surfaces
Are signs posted, when appropriate, showing the
elevated surface load capacity?
Are surfaces elevated more than 30 inches above the
floor or ground provided with standard guardrails?
Are all elevated surfaces ( beneath which people or
machinery could be exposed to falling objects) pro-vided
with standard 4- inch toeboards?
Is a permanent means of access and egress provided
to elevated storage and work surfaces?
Is required headroom provided where necessary?
Is material on elevated surfaces piled, stacked or
racked in a manner to prevent it from tipping,
falling, collapsing, rolling or spreading?
Are dock boards or bridge plates used when trans-ferring
materials between docks and trucks or rail
cars?
Exiting or Egress
Are all exits marked with an exit sign and illuminat-ed
by a reliable light source?
Are the directions to exits, when not immediately
apparent, marked with visible signs?
Are doors, passageways or stairways that are neither
exits nor access to exits and which could be mistak-en
for exits appropriately marked “ NOT AN EXIT,”
“ TO BASEMENT,” “ STOREROOM,” etc.?
17
Are exit signs provided with the word “ EXIT” in
lettering at least 5 inches high and the stroke of the
lettering at least 1/ 2- inch wide?
Are exit doors side- hinged?
Are all exits kept free of obstructions?
Are at least two means of egress provided from ele-vated
platforms, pits or rooms where the absence of
a second exit would increase the risk of injury from
hot, poisonous, corrosive, suffocating, flammable or
explosive substances?
Are there sufficient exits to permit prompt escape in
case of emergency?
Are special precautions taken to protect employees
during construction and repair operations?
Is the number of exits from each floor of a building,
and the number of exits from the building itself,
appropriate for the building occupancy load?
Are exit stairways that are required to be separated
from other parts of a building enclosed by at least
two- hour fire- resistive construction in buildings
more than four stories in height, and not less than
one- hour fire- resistive construction elsewhere?
Where ramps are used as part of required exiting
from a building, is the ramp slope limited to 1 foot
vertical and 12 feet horizontal?
Where exiting will be through frameless glass doors,
glass exit doors, storm doors, etc., are the doors
fully tempered and do they meet the safety require-ments
for human impact?
Exit Doors
Are doors that are required to serve as exits
designed and constructed so that the way of exit
travel is obvious and direct?
Are windows that could be mistaken for exit doors
made inaccessible by means of barriers or railings?
Are exit doors openable from the direction of exit
travel without the use of a key or any special knowl-edge
or effort when the building is occupied?
Is a revolving, sliding or overhead door prohibited
from serving as a required exit door?
Where panic hardware is installed on a required exit
door, will it allow the door to open by applying a
force of 15 pounds or less in the direction of the exit
traffic?
Are doors on cold storage rooms provided with an
inside release mechanism that will release the latch
and open the door even if it’s padlocked or other-wise
locked on the outside?
Where exit doors open directly onto any street, alley
or other area where vehicles may be operated, are
adequate barriers and warnings provided to prevent
employees stepping into the path of traffic?
Are doors that swing in both directions and are
located between rooms where there is frequent traf-fic
provided with viewing panels in each door?
Portable Ladders
Are all ladders maintained in good condition, joints
between steps and side rails tight, all hardware and
fittings securely attached, and moveable parts oper-ating
freely without binding or undue play?
Are nonslip safety feet provided on each ladder?
Are nonslip safety feet provided on each metal or
rung ladder?
Are ladder rungs and steps free of grease and oil?
Is it prohibited to place a ladder in front of doors
opening toward the ladder except when the door is
blocked open, locked or guarded?
Is it prohibited to place ladders on boxes, barrels or
other unstable bases to obtain additional height?
Are employees instructed to face the ladder when
ascending or descending?
Are employees prohibited from using ladders that
are broken, missing steps, rungs, or cleats, broken
side rails, or other faulty equipment?
Are employees instructed not to use the top step of
ordinary stepladders as a step?
When portable rung ladders are used to gain access to
elevated platforms, roofs, etc., does the ladder always
extend at least 3 feet above the elevated surface?
Is it required that when portable rung or cleat type
ladders are used, the base is so placed that slipping
will not occur, or it is lashed or otherwise held in
place?
Are portable metal ladders marked with signs read-ing
“ CAUTION— Do Not Use Around Electrical
Equipment” or equivalent wording?
Are employees prohibited from using ladders as
guys, braces, skids, gin poles, or for other than their
intended purposes?
Are employees instructed to only adjust extension
ladders while standing at a base ( not while standing
on the ladder or from a position above the ladder)?
18
Are metal ladders inspected for damage?
Are the rungs of ladders uniformly spaced at 12
inches, center to center?
Hand Tools and Equipment
Are all tools and equipment ( both company- and
employee- owned) used by employees at their work-place
in good condition?
Are hand tools such as chisels, punches, etc., that
develop mushroomed heads during use, recondi-tioned
or replaced as necessary?
Are broken or fractured handles on hammers, axes
and similar equipment replaced promptly?
Are worn or bent wrenches replaced regularly?
Are appropriate handles used on files and similar
tools?
Are employees made aware of the hazards caused
by faulty or improperly used hand tools?
Are appropriate safety glasses, face shields, etc.,
used while using hand tools or other equipment that
might produce flying materials or be subject to
breakage?
Are jacks checked periodically to ensure they are in
good operating condition?
Are tool handles wedged tightly in the head of all
tools?
Are tool cutting edges kept sharp so the tool will
move smoothly without binding or skipping?
Are tools stored in a dry, secure location where they
won’t be tampered with?
Is eye and face protection used when driving hard-ened
or tempered studs or nails?
Portable ( Power- Operated) Tools and Equipment
Are grinders, saws and similar equipment provided
with appropriate safety guards?
Are power tools used with the correct shield, guard
or attachment, recommended by the manufacturer?
Are portable circular saws equipped with guards
above and below the base shoe?
Are circular saw guards checked to ensure they are
not wedged up, thus leaving the lower portion of the
blade unguarded?
Are rotating or moving parts of equipment guarded
to prevent physical contact?
Are all cord- connected, electrically operated tools
and equipment effectively grounded or of the
approved double- insulated type?
Are effective guards in place over belts, pulleys,
chains, and sprockets on equipment such as concrete
mixers, air compressors, etc.?
Are portable fans provided with full guards or
screens having openings 1/ 2 inch or less?
Is hoisting equipment available and used for lifting
heavy objects, and are hoist ratings and characteris-tics
appropriate for the task?
Are ground- fault circuit interrupters provided on all
temporary electrical 15 and 20 ampere circuits used
during periods of construction?
Are pneumatic and hydraulic hoses on power- oper-ated
tools checked regularly for deterioration or
damage?
Abrasive Wheel Equipment— Grinders
Is the work rest used and kept adjusted to within 1/ 8
inch of the wheel?
Is the adjustable tongue on the top side of the
grinder used and kept adjusted to within 1/ 4 inch of
the wheel?
Do side guards cover the spindle, nut, flange and 75
percent of the wheel diameter?
Are bench and pedestal grinders permanently
mounted?
Are goggles or face shields always worn when
grinding?
Is the maximum RPM rating of each abrasive wheel
compatible with the RPM rating of the grinder
motor?
Are fixed or permanently mounted grinders connect-ed
to their electrical supply system with metallic
conduit or other permanent wiring method?
Does each grinder have an individual on and off
control switch?
Is each electrically operated grinder effectively
grounded?
Before new abrasive wheels are mounted, are they
visually inspected and ring tested?
Are dust collectors and powered exhausts provided
on grinders used in operations that produce large
amounts of dust?
19
Are splash guards mounted on grinders that use coolant
to prevent the coolant from reaching employees?
Is cleanliness maintained around grinders?
Powder- Actuated Tools
Are employees who operate powder- actuated tools
trained in their use and do they carry a valid opera-tor’s
card?
Is each powder- actuated tool stored in its own
locked container when not being used?
Is a sign at least 7 inches by 10 inches with bold
face type reading “ POWDER- ACTUATED TOOL
IN USE” conspicuously posted when the tool is
being used?
Are powder- actuated tools left unloaded until they
are actually ready to be used?
Are powder- actuated tools inspected for obstruc-tions
or defects each day before use?
Do powder- actuated tool operators have and use
appropriate personal protective equipment such as
hard hats, safety goggles, safety shoes and ear pro-tectors?
Machine Guarding
Is there a training program to instruct employees on
safe methods of machine operation?
Is there adequate supervision to ensure that employees
are following safe machine operating procedures?
Is there a regular program of safety inspection of
machinery and equipment?
Is all machinery and equipment kept clean and
properly maintained?
Is sufficient clearance provided around and between
machines to allow for safe operations, set up and
servicing, material handling, and waste removal?
Are equipment and machinery securely placed and
anchored when necessary to prevent tipping or other
movement that could result in personal injury?
Is there a power shut- off switch within reach of the
operator’s position at each machine?
Can electric power to each machine be locked out
for maintenance, repair or security?
Are the noncurrent- carrying metal parts of electri-cally
operated machines bonded and grounded?
Are foot- operated switches guarded or arranged to
prevent accidental actuation by personnel or falling
objects?
Are manually operated valves and switches control-ling
the operation of equipment and machines clear-ly
identified and readily accessible?
Are all emergency stop buttons colored red?
Are all pulleys and belts that are within 7 feet of the
floor or working level properly guarded?
Are all moving chains and gears properly guarded?
Are splash guards mounted on machines that use
coolant to prevent the coolant from reaching
employees?
Are methods provided to protect the operator and
other employees in the machine area from hazards
created at the point of operation, ingoing nip points,
rotating parts, flying chips and sparks?
Are machinery guards secure and so arranged that
they do not offer a hazard in their use?
If special hand tools are used for placing and remov-ing
material, do they protect the operator’s hands?
Are revolving drums, barrels and containers
required to be guarded by an enclosure that is inter-locked
with the drive mechanism, so that revolution
cannot occur unless the guard enclosure is in place?
Do arbors and mandrels have firm and secure
bearings and are they free from play?
Are provisions made to prevent machines from
automatically starting when power is restored after a
power failure or shutdown?
Are machines constructed so as to be free from
excessive vibration when the largest size tool is
mounted and run at full speed?
If machinery is cleaned with compressed air, is air
pressure controlled and personal protective equipment
or other safeguards utilized to protect operators and
other workers from eye and body injury?
Are fan blades protected with a guard having open-ings
no larger than 1/ 2 inch when operating with 7
feet of the floor?
Are saws used for ripping equipped with anti- kick
back devices and spreaders?
Are radial arm saws so arranged that the cutting
head will gently return to the back of the table when
released?
Lockout/ Blockout Procedures
Is all machinery or equipment capable of movement
required to be de- energized or disengaged and
blocked or locked out during cleaning, servicing,
20
adjusting or setting up operations, whenever
required?
Where the power disconnecting means for equip-ment
does not also disconnect the electrical control
circuit:
Are the appropriate electrical enclosures identi-fied?
Is means provided to ensure the control circuit
can also be disconnected and locked out?
Is the locking out of control circuits in lieu of lock-ing
out main power disconnects prohibited?
Are all equipment control valve handles provided
with a means for locking out?
Does the lockout procedure require that stored ener-gy
( mechanical, hydraulic, air, etc.) be released or
blocked before equipment is locked out for repairs?
Are appropriate employees provided with individu-ally
keyed personal safety locks?
Are employees required to keep personal control of
their key( s) while they have safety locks in use?
Is it required that only the employee exposed to the
hazard place or remove the safety lock?
Is it required that employees check the safety of the
lockout by attempting to start up after making sure
no one is exposed?
Are employees instructed to always push the control
circuit stop button prior to re- energizing the main
power switch?
Is there a means provided to identify any or all
employees who are working on locked- out equip-ment
by their locks or accompanying tags?
Are a sufficient number of accident preventive signs
or tags and safety padlocks provided for any reason-ably
foreseeable repair emergency?
When machine operations, configuration or size
requires the operator to leave his or her control sta-tion
to install tools or perform other operations and
that part of the machine could move if accidentally
activated, is such element required to be separately
locked or blocked out?
In the event that equipment or lines cannot be shut
down, locked out and tagged, is a safe job procedure
established and rigidly followed?
Welding, Cutting and Brazing
Are only authorized and trained personnel permitted
to use welding, cutting or brazing equipment?
Do all operators have copies of the appropriate operat-ing
instructions and are they directed to follow them?
Are compressed gas cylinders regularly examined for
obvious signs of defects, deep rusting or leakage?
Is care used in handling and storage of cylinders,
safety valves, relief valves, etc., to prevent damage?
Are precautions taken to prevent the mixture of air
or oxygen with flammable gases, except at a burner
or in a standard torch?
Are only approved apparatus ( torches, regulators,
pressure- reducing valves, acetylene generators,
manifolds) used?
Are cylinders kept away from sources of heat?
Are the cylinders kept away from elevators, stairs or
gangways?
Is it prohibited to use cylinders as rollers or supports?
Are empty cylinders appropriately marked and their
valves closed?
Are signs reading “ DANGER— NO SMOKING,
MATCHES OR OPEN LIGHTS,” or the equivalent,
posted?
Are cylinders, cylinder valves, couplings, regulators,
hoses and apparatus kept free of oily or greasy sub-stances?
Is care taken not to drop or strike cylinders?
Unless secured on special trucks, are regulators
removed and valve protection caps put in place
before moving cylinders?
Do cylinders without fixed wheels have keys,
handles or nonadjustable wrenches on stem valves
when in service?
Are liquefied gases stored and shipped valve end up
with valve covers in place?
Are provisions made to never crack a fuel gas cylin-der
valve near sources of ignition?
Before a regulator is removed, is the valve closed
and gas released from the regulator?
Is red used to identify the acetylene ( and other fuel
gas) hose, green for oxygen hose, and black for inert
gas and air hose?
Are pressure- reducing regulators used only for the
gas and pressures for which they are intended?
Is open circuit ( no- load) voltage of arc welding and
cutting machines as low as possible and not in
excess of the recommended limits?
21
Under wet conditions, are automatic controls for
reducing no- load voltage used?
Is grounding of the machine frame and safety
ground connections of portable machines checked
periodically?
Are electrodes removed from the holders when not
in use?
Is it required that electric power to the welder be
shut off when no one is in attendance?
Is suitable fire extinguishing equipment available
for immediate use?
Is the welder forbidden to coil or loop welding elec-trode
cable around his or her body?
Are wet machines thoroughly dried and tested
before being used?
Are work and electrode lead cables frequently
inspected for wear and damage and replaced when
needed?
Do means for connecting cable lengths have ade-quate
insulation?
When the object to be welded cannot be moved and
fire hazards cannot be removed, are shields used to
confine heat, sparks, and slag?
Are fire watchers assigned when welding or cutting
is performed in locations where a serious fire might
develop?
Are combustible floors kept wet, covered by damp
sand or protected by fire- resistant shields?
When floors are wet down, are personnel protected
from possible electrical shock?
When welding is done on metal walls, are precau-tions
taken to protect combustibles on the other side?
Before hot work is begun, are used drums, barrels,
tanks and other containers so thoroughly cleaned
that no substances remain that could explode, ignite
or produce toxic vapors?
Is it required that eye protection helmets, hand
shields and goggles meet appropriate standards?
Are employees exposed to the hazards created by
welding, cutting or brazing operations protected
with personal protective equipment and clothing?
Is a check made for adequate ventilation where
welding or cutting is performed?
When working in confined places, are environmen-tal
monitoring tests taken and means provided for
quick removal of welders in case of an emergency?
Compressors and Compressed Air
Are compressors equipped with pressure relief
valves and pressure gauges?
Are compressor air intakes installed and equipped so
as to ensure that only clean uncontaminated air
enters the compressor?
Are air filters installed on the compressor intake?
Are compressors operated and lubricated in accor-dance
with the manufacturer’s recommendations?
Are safety devices on compressed air systems
checked frequently?
Before any repair work is done on the pressure sys-tem
of a compressor, is the pressure bled off and the
system locked- out?
Are signs posted to warn of the automatic starting
feature of the compressors?
Is the belt drive system totally enclosed to provide
protection for the front, back, top, and sides?
Is it strictly prohibited to direct compressed air
towards a person?
Are employees prohibited from using highly com-pressed
air for cleaning purposes?
If compressed air is used for cleaning off clothing, is
the pressure reduced to less than 30 psi?
When using compressed air for cleaning, do
employees wear protective chip guarding and
personal protective equipment?
Are safety chains or other suitable locking devices
used at couplings of high pressure hose lines where
a connection failure would create a hazard?
Before compressed air is used to empty containers
of liquid, is the safe working pressure of the contain-er
checked?
When compressed air is used with abrasive blast
cleaning equipment, is the operating valve a type
that must be held open manually?
When compressed air is used to inflate auto tires, is
a clip- on chuck and an inline regulator preset to 40
psi required?
Is it prohibited to use compressed air to clean up or
move combustible dust if such action could cause
the dust to be suspended in the air and cause a fire or
explosion hazard?
22
Compressed Air Receivers
Is every receiver equipped with a pressure gauge and
with one or more automatic spring- loaded safety valves?
Is the total relieving capacity of the safety valve
capable of preventing pressure in the receiver from
exceeding the maximum allowable working pressure
of the receiver by more than 10 percent?
Is every air receiver provided with a drain pipe and
valve at the lowest point for the removal of accumu-lated
oil and water?
Are compressed air receivers periodically drained of
moisture and oil?
Are all safety valves tested frequently and at regular
intervals to determine whether they are in good
operating condition?
Is the inlet of air receivers and piping systems kept
free of accumulated oil and carbonaceous materials?
Compressed Gas Cylinders
Are cylinders with a water weight capacity over 30
pounds equipped with means for connecting a valve
protector device or with a collar or recess to protect
the valve?
Are cylinders legibly marked to clearly identify the
gas contained?
Are compressed gas cylinders stored in areas that
are protected from external heat sources such as
flame impingement, intense radiant heat, electric
arcs or high temperature lines?
Are cylinders located or stored in areas where they
will not be damaged by passing or falling objects or
subjected to tampering by unauthorized people?
Are cylinders stored or transported in a manner to
prevent them from creating a hazard by tipping,
falling or rolling?
Are cylinders containing liquefied fuel gas stored or
transported in a position so that the safety relief
device is always in direct contact with the vapor
space in the cylinder?
Are valve protectors always placed on cylinders when
the cylinders are not in use or connected for use?
Are all valves closed off before a cylinder is moved,
when the cylinder is empty, and at the completion of
each job?
Are low pressure fuel gas cylinders checked periodi-cally
for corrosion, general distortion, cracks or any
other defect that might indicate a weakness or render
it unfit for service?
Does the periodic check of low pressure fuel gas
cylinders include a close inspection of the cylinders’
bottoms?
Hoist and Auxiliary Equipment
Is each overhead electric hoist equipped with a limit
device to stop the hook travel at its highest and low-est
point of safe travel?
Will each hoist automatically stop and hold any load
up to 125 percent of its rated load if its actuating
force is removed?
Is the rated load of each hoist legibly marked and
visible to the operator?
Are stops provided at the safe limits of travel for
trolley hoists?
Are the controls of hoists plainly marked to indicate
the direction of travel or motion?
Is each cage- controlled hoist equipped with an
effective warning device?
Are close- fitting guards or other suitable devices
installed on hoists to ensure hoist ropes will be
maintained in the sheave grooves?
Are all hoist chains or ropes of sufficient length to
handle the full range of movement of the application
while still maintaining two full wraps on the drum at
all times?
Are nip points or contact points between hoist ropes
and sheaves that are permanently located within 7 feet
of the floor, ground or working platform guarded?
Is it prohibited to use chains or rope slings that are
kinked or twisted?
Is it prohibited to use the hoist rope or chain
wrapped around the load as a substitute for a sling?
Is the operator instructed to avoid carrying loads
over people?
Are only employees who have been trained in the
proper use of hoists allowed to operate them?
Industrial Trucks— Forklifts
Are only drivers authorized by the employer and
trained in the safe operations of industrial trucks
permitted to operate such vehicles? Methods must
be devised to train operators in safe operation of
powered industrial trucks.
Does employer ensure that each powered industrial
truck operator is competent to operate a powered
industrial truck safely, as demonstrated by the suc-cessful
completion of required training and evaluation
in accordance with 1910.178( l)— Operator Training?
23
Is substantial overhead protective equipment provid-ed
on high lift rider equipment?
Are the required lift truck operating rules posted and
enforced?
Is directional lighting provided on each industrial
truck that operates in an area with less than 2 foot-candles
per square foot of general lighting?
Does each industrial truck have a warning horn, whis-tle,
gong or other device that can be clearly heard
above the normal noise in the areas where operated?
Are the brakes on each industrial truck capable of
bringing the vehicle to a complete and safe stop
when fully loaded?
Will the industrial truck’s parking brake effectively
prevent the vehicle from moving when unattended?
Are industrial trucks operating in areas where flam-mable
gases or vapors or combustible dust or
ignitable fibers may be present in the atmosphere
approved for such locations?
Are motorized hand and hand/ rider trucks so
designed that the brakes are applied and power to
the drive motor shuts off when the operator releases
his or her grip on the device that controls the travel?
Are industrial trucks with internal combustion
engines, operated in buildings or enclosed areas, care-fully
checked to ensure such operations do not cause
harmful concentrations of dangerous gases or fumes?
Spraying Operations
Is adequate ventilation ensured before spray opera-tions
are started?
Is mechanical ventilation provided when spraying
operations are done in enclosed areas?
When mechanical ventilation is provided during
spraying operations, is it so arranged that it will not
circulate the contaminated air?
Is the spray area free of hot surfaces?
Is the spray area at least 20 feet from flames, sparks,
operating electrical motors and other ignition
sources?
Are portable lamps used to illuminate spray areas
suitable for use in a hazardous location?
Is approved respiratory equipment provided and
used when appropriate during spraying operations?
Do solvents used for cleaning have a flash point to
100 F or more?
Are fire control sprinkler heads kept clean?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted in spray areas,
paint rooms, paint booths and paint storage areas?
Is the spray area kept clean of combustible residue?
Are spray booths constructed of metal, masonry or
other substantial noncombustible material?
Are spray booth floors and baffles noncombustible
and easily cleaned?
Is infrared drying apparatus kept out of the spray
area during spraying operations?
Is the spay booth completely ventilated before using
the drying apparatus?
Is the electric drying apparatus properly grounded?
Are lighting fixtures for spray booths located out-side
of the booth and the interior lighted through
sealed clear panels?
Are the electric motors for exhaust fans placed out-side
booths or ducts?
Are belts and pulleys inside the booth fully enclosed?
Do ducts have access doors to allow cleaning?
Do all drying spaces have adequate ventilation?
Entering Confined Spaces
Are confined spaces thoroughly emptied of any cor-rosive
or hazardous substances, such as acids or
caustics, before entry?
Are all lines to a confined space containing inert,
toxic, flammable or corrosive materials valved off and
blanked or disconnected and separated before entry?
Is it required that all impellers, agitators or other
moving equipment inside confined spaces be locked
out if they present a hazard?
Is either natural or mechanical ventilation provided
prior to confined space entry?
Are appropriate atmospheric tests performed to
check for oxygen deficiency, toxic substances and
explosive concentrations in the confined space
before entry?
Is adequate illumination provided for the work to be
performed in the confined space?
Is the atmosphere inside the confined space fre-quently
tested or continuously monitored during
conduct of work?
Is there an assigned safety standby employee outside
of the confined space, when required, whose sole
responsibility is to watch the work in progress,
sound an alarm if necessary and render assistance?
24
Is the standby employee appropriately trained and
equipped to handle an emergency?
Is the standby employee or other employees prohib-ited
from entering the confined space without life-lines
and respiratory equipment if there is any ques-tion
as to the cause of an emergency?
Is approved respiratory equipment required if the
atmosphere inside the confined space cannot be
made acceptable?
Is all portable electrical equipment used inside con-fined
spaces either grounded and insulated or
equipped with ground fault protection?
Before gas welding or burning is started in a con-fined
space, are hoses checked for leaks, compressed
gas bottles forbidden inside of the confined space,
torches lighted only outside of the confined area, and
the confined area tested for an explosive atmosphere
each time before a lighted torch is to be taken into
the confined space?
If employees will be using oxygen- consuming
equipment such as salamanders, torches, furnaces,
etc., in a confined space, is sufficient air provided to
ensure combustion without reducing the oxygen
concentration of the atmosphere below 19.5 percent
by volume?
Whenever combustion- type equipment is used in a
confined space, are provisions made to ensure the
exhaust gases are vented outside of the enclosure?
Is each confined space checked for decaying vegeta-tion
or animal matter that may produce methane?
Is the confined space checked for possible industrial
waste that could contain toxic properties?
If the confined space is below the ground and near
areas where motor vehicles are operating, is it possi-ble
for vehicle exhaust or carbon monoxide to enter
the space?
Environmental Controls
Are all work areas properly illuminated?
Are employees instructed in proper first aid and
other emergency procedures?
Are hazardous substances, blood and other potentially
infectious materials that may cause harm by inhalation,
ingestion, or skin absorption or contact identified?
Are employees aware of the hazards involved with
the various chemicals they may be exposed to in
their work environment, such as ammonia, chlorine,
epoxies, caustics, etc.?
Is employee exposure to chemicals in the workplace
kept within acceptable levels?
Are the safest methods and products being used?
Is the work area’s ventilation system appropriate for
the work being performed?
Are spray painting operations done in spray rooms or
booths equipped with an appropriate exhaust system?
Is employee exposure to welding fumes controlled
by ventilation, use of respirators, exposure time or
other means?
Are welders and other workers nearby provided with
flash shields during welding operations?
If forklifts and other vehicles are used in buildings or
other enclosed areas, are the carbon monoxide levels
kept below maximum acceptable concentration?
Has there been a determination that noise levels in
the facilities are within acceptable levels?
Are steps being taken to use engineering controls to
reduce excessive noise levels?
Are proper precautions being taken when handling
asbestos and other fibrous materials?
Are caution labels and signs used to warn of haz-ardous
substances ( e. g., asbestos) and biohazards
( e. g., bloodborne pathogens)?
Are wet methods used, when practicable, to prevent
the emission of airborne asbestos fibers, silica dust
and similar hazardous materials?
Are engineering controls examined and maintained
or replaced on a scheduled basis?
Is vacuuming with appropriate equipment used when-ever
possible rather than blowing or sweeping dust?
Are grinders, saws and other machines that produce
respirable dusts vented to an industrial collector or
central exhaust system?
Are all local exhaust ventilation systems designed
and operating properly such as air flow and volume
necessary for the application, ducts not plugged, or
belts slipping?
Is personal protective equipment provided, used and
maintained wherever required?
Are there written standard operating procedures for
the selection and use of respirators where needed?
Are restrooms and washrooms kept clean and sanitary?
Is all water provided for drinking, washing and
cooking potable?
25
Are all outlets for water not suitable for drinking
clearly identified?
Are employees’ physical capacities assessed before
being assigned to jobs requiring heavy work?
Are employees instructed in the proper manner of
lifting heavy objects?
Where heat is a problem, have all fixed work areas
been provided with spot cooling or air conditioning?
Are employees screened before assignment to areas
of high heat to determine if their health condition
might make them more susceptible to having an
adverse reaction?
Are employees working on streets and roadways
where they are exposed to the hazards of traffic
required to wear brightly colored ( traffic orange)
warning vests?
Are exhaust stacks and air intakes so located that
contaminated air will not be recirculated within a
building or other enclosed area?
Is equipment producing ultraviolet radiation proper-ly
shielded?
Are universal precautions observed where occupa-tional
exposure to blood or other potentially infec-tious
materials can occur and in all instances where
differentiation of types of body fluids or potentially
infectious materials is difficult or impossible?
Flammable and Combustible Materials
Are combustible scrap, debris, and waste materials
( oily rags, etc.) stored in covered metal receptacles
and removed from the worksite promptly?
Is proper storage practiced to minimize the risk of
fire, including spontaneous combustion?
Are approved containers and tanks used for the storage
and handling of flammable and combustible liquids?
Are all connections on drums and combustible liq-uid
piping vapor and liquid tight?
Are all flammable liquids kept in closed containers
when not in use ( e. g., parts cleaning tanks, pans, etc.)?
Are bulk drums of flammable liquids grounded and
bonded to containers during dispensing?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible
liquids have explosion- proof lights?
Do storage rooms for flammable and combustible
liquids have mechanical or gravity ventilation?
Is liquefied petroleum gas stored, handled, and used
in accordance with safe practices and standards?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted on liquefied
petroleum gas tanks?
Are liquefied petroleum storage tanks guarded to
prevent damage from vehicles?
Are all solvent wastes and flammable liquids kept in
fire- resistant covered containers until they are
removed from the worksite?
Is vacuuming used wherever possible rather than
blowing or sweeping combustible dust?
Are firm separators placed between containers of
combustibles or flammables, when stacked one upon
another, to ensure their support and stability?
Are fuel gas cylinders and oxygen cylinders separated
by distance, fire- resistant barriers, etc., while in storage?
Are fire extinguishers selected and provided for the
types of materials in areas where they are to be used?
Class A Ordinary combustible material fires.
Class B Flammable liquid, gas or grease fires.
Class C Energized electrical equipment fires.
Are appropriate fire extinguishers mounted within
75 feet of outside areas containing flammable
liquids and within 10 feet of any inside storage area
for such materials?
Are extinguishers free from obstructions or blockage?
Are all extinguishers serviced, maintained and
tagged at intervals not to exceed one year?
Are all extinguishers fully charged and in their
designated places?
Where sprinkler systems are permanently installed,
are the nozzle heads so directed and arranged that
water will not be sprayed into operating electrical
switch boards and equipment?
Are “ NO SMOKING” signs posted where appropri-ate
in areas where flammable or combustible materi-als
are used or stored?
Are safety cans used for dispensing flammable or
combustible liquids at a point of use?
Are all spills of flammable or combustible liquids
cleaned up promptly?
Are storage tanks adequately vented to prevent the
development of excessive vacuum or pressure as a result
of filling, emptying or atmosphere temperature changes?
26
Are storage tanks equipped with emergency venting
that will relieve excessive internal pressure caused
by fire exposure?
Are “ NO SMOKING” rules enforced in areas
involving storage and use of hazardous materials?
Hazardous Chemical Exposure
Are employees trained in the safe handling practices
of hazardous chemicals, such as acids and caustics?
Are employees aware of the potential hazards
involving various chemicals stored or used in the
workplace, such as acids, bases, caustics, epoxies,
phenols, etc.?
Is employee exposure to chemicals kept within
acceptable levels?
Are eye wash fountains and safety showers provided
in areas where corrosive chemicals are handled?
Are all containers, such as vats, storage tanks, etc.,
labeled as to their contents, for example, “ CAUSTICS”?
Are all employees required to use personal protective
clothing and equipment when handling chemicals
( gloves, eye protection, respirators, etc.)?
Are flammable or toxic chemicals kept in closed
containers when not in use?
Are chemical piping systems clearly marked as to
their content?
Where corrosive liquids are frequently handled in
open containers or drawn from storage vessels or
pipe lines, are adequate means readily available for
neutralizing or disposing of spills or overflows
properly and safely?
Have standard operating procedures been estab-lished
and are they being followed when cleaning up
chemical spills?
Where needed for emergency use, are respirators
stored in a convenient, clean and sanitary location?
Are respirators intended for emergency use adequate
for the various uses for which they may be needed?
Are employees prohibited from eating in areas
where hazardous chemicals are present?
Is personal protective equipment provided, used and
maintained whenever necessary?
Are there written standard operating procedures for
the selection and use of respirators where needed?
If you have a respirator protection program, are your
employees instructed on the correct usage and limita-tions
of the respirators? Are the respirators NIOSH
approved for this particular application? Are they regu-larly
inspected and cleaned, sanitized and maintained?
If hazardous substances are used in your processes,
do you have a medical or biological monitoring
system in operation?
Are you familiar with the threshold limit values or
permissible exposure limits of airborne contami-nants
and physical agents used in your workplace?
Have control procedures been instituted for haz-ardous
materials, where appropriate, such as respira-tors,
ventilation systems, handling practices, etc.?
Whenever possible, are hazardous substances han-dled
in properly designed and exhausted booths or
similar locations?
Do you use general dilution or local exhaust ventila-tion
systems to control dusts, vapors, gases, fumes,
smoke, solvents or mists that may be generated in
your workplace?
Is ventilation equipment provided for removal of
contaminants from such operations as production,
grinding, buffing, spray painting and/ or vapor
degreasing and is it operating properly?
Do you monitor employees to make sure there are
no complaints about dizziness, headaches, nausea,
irritation or other discomfort when they use solvents
or other chemicals?
Do you watch for employee health problems such as
dryness, irritation or sensitization of the skin?
Have you considered the use of an industrial hygien-ist
or environmental health specialist to evaluate
your operation?
If internal combustion engines are used, is carbon
monoxide kept within acceptable levels?
Is vacuuming used, rather than blowing or sweeping
dusts, whenever possible for cleanup?
Are materials that give off toxic, asphyxiant, suffo-cating
or anesthetic fumes stored in remote or isolat-ed
locations when not in use?
Respiratory Protection Program
In any workplace where respirators are necessary to
protect the health of the employee or whenever respirators
are required by the employer, established and implement-ed
a written respiratory protection program with worksite-specific
procedures? The program must be updated as
necessary to reflect those changes in workplace condi-tions
that affect respirator use. You must include in the
program the following provisions as applicable:
27
11. Procedures for selecting respirators for use in
the workplace,
12. Medical evaluations of employees required
to use respirators,
13. Fit testing procedures for tight- fitting respirators,
14. Procedures for proper use of respirators in
routine and reasonably foreseeable emer-gency
situations,
15. Procedures and schedules for cleaning,
disinfecting, storing, inspecting, repairing,
discarding and otherwise maintaining
respirators,
16. Procedures to ensure adequate air quality,
quantity and flow of breathing air for
atmosphere- supplying respirators,
17. Training of employees in the respiratory haz-ards
to which they are potentially exposed
during routine and emergency situations,
18. Training of employees in the proper use of
respirators, including putting on and remov-ing
them, any limitations on their use, and
their maintenance,
19. Procedures for regularly evaluating the effec-tiveness
of the program.
Hazardous Substances Communication
Is there a list of hazardous substances used in your
workplace?
Is there a current written exposure control plan for
occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens and
other potentially infectious materials, where applicable?
Is there a written hazard communication program
dealing with material safety data sheets ( MSDS),
labeling and employee training?
Is each container for a hazardous substance ( including
vats, bottles and storage tanks) labeled with product
identity and a hazard warning ( communication of the
specific health hazards and physical hazards)?
Is there a material safety data sheet readily available
for each hazardous substance used?
Is there an employee training program for hazardous
substances?
This program needs to include:
11. An explanation of what an MSDS is and how
to use and obtain one.
12. MSDS contents for each hazardous sub-stance
or class of substances.
13. Explanation of “ right to know.”
14. Identification of where employees can see the
employer’s written hazard communication
program and where hazardous substances are
present in their work areas.
15. Physical and health hazards of substances in
the work area and specific protective mea-sures
to be used.
16. Details of the hazard communication pro-gram,
including how to use the labeling sys-tem
and MSDSs.
The employee training program on the bloodborne
pathogens standard needs to contain the following
elements:
11. An accessible copy of the standard and an
explanation of its contents.
12. A general explanation of the epidemiology
and symptoms of bloodborne diseases.
13. An explanation of the modes of transmission
of bloodborne pathogens.
14. An explanation of the employer’s exposure
control plan and the means by which employ-ees
can obtain a copy of the written plan.
15. An explanation of the appropriate methods
for recognizing tasks and other activities that
may involve exposure to blood and other
potentially infectious materials.
16. An explanation of the use and limitations of
methods that will prevent or reduce exposure,
including appropriate engineering controls,
work practices and personal protective equip-ment.
17. Information on the types, proper use, loca-tion,
removal, handling, decontamination and
disposal of personal protective equipment.
18. An explanation of the basis for selection of
personal protective equipment.
19. Information on the hepatitis B vaccine.
10. Information on the appropriate actions to
take and people to contact in an emergency
involving blood or other potentially infec-tious
materials.
11. An explanation of the procedure to follow if an
exposure incident occurs, including the meth-ods
of reporting the incident and the medical
follow- up that will be made available.
12. Information on post- exposure evaluations
and follow- up.
13. An explanation of signs, labels and color
coding.
28
Are employees trained in the following:
How to recognize tasks that might result in occupa-tional
exposure?
How to use work practice and engineering controls
and personal protective equipment and to know their
limitations?
How to obtain information on the types, selection,
proper use, location, removal, handling, decontami-nation
and disposal of personal protective equip-ment?
Who to contact and what to do in an emergency?
Electrical
Do you specify compliance with OSHA standards
for all contract electrical work?
Are all employees required to report as soon as
practicable any obvious hazard to life or property
observed in connection with electrical equipment or
lines?
Are employees instructed to make preliminary
inspections and/ or appropriate tests to determine
what conditions exist before starting work on elec-trical
equipment or lines?
When electrical equipment or lines are to be serviced,
maintained or adjusted, are necessary switches
opened, locked out and tagged whenever possible?
Are portable electrical tools and equipment ground-ed
or of the double- insulated type?
Are electrical appliances such as vacuum cleaners,
polishers and vending machines grounded?
Do extension cords being used have a grounding
conductor?
Are multiple- plug adapters prohibited?
Are ground- fault circuit interrupters installed on
each temporary 15 or 20 ampere, 120 volt AC
circuit at locations where construction, demolition,
modifications, alterations or excavations are being
performed?
Are all temporary circuits protected by suitable
disconnecting switches or plug connectors at the
junction with permanent wiring?
Do you have electrical installations in hazardous
dust or vapor areas? If so, do they meet the National
Electrical Code ( NEC) for hazardous locations?
Are exposed wiring and cords with frayed or deteri-orated
insulation repaired or replaced promptly?
Are flexible cords and cables free of splices or taps?
Are clamps or other securing means provided on
flexible cords or cables at plugs, receptacles, tools
and equipment, and is the cord jacket securely held
in place?
Are all cord, cable and raceway connections intact
and secure?
In wet or damp locations, are electrical tools and
equipment appropriate for the use or location or oth-erwise
protected?
Is the location of electrical power lines and cables
( overhead, underground, underfloor, other side of
walls) determined before digging, drilling or similar
work is begun?
Are metal measuring tapes, ropes, handlines or simi-lar
devices with metallic thread woven into the fabric
prohibited where they could come in contact with
energized parts of equipment of circuit conductors?
Is the use of metal ladders prohibited in areas where
the ladder or the person using the ladder could come
in contact with energized parts of equipment, fix-tures
or circuit conductors?
Are all disconnecting switches and circuit breakers
labeled to indicate their use or equipment served?
Are disconnecting means always opened before
fuses are replaced?
Do all interior wiring systems include provisions for
grounding metal parts of electrical raceways, equip-ment
and enclosures?
Are all electrical raceways and enclosures securely
fastened in place?
Are all energized parts of electrical circuits and
equipment guarded against accidental contact by
approved cabinets or enclosures?
Is sufficient access and working space provided and
maintained about all electrical equipment to permit
ready and safe operations and maintenance?
Are all unused openings ( including conduit knock-outs)
in electrical enclosures and fittings closed with
appropriate covers, plugs or plates?
Are electrical enclosures such as switches, recepta-cles,
junction boxes, etc., provided with tight- fitting
covers or plates?
Are disconnecting switches for electrical motors in
excess of 2 horsepower capable of opening the circuit
when the motor is in a stalled condition without explod-ing?
( The horsepower rating of switches must be equal
to or in excess of the motor’s horsepower rating.)
29
Is low voltage protection provided in the control
device of motors driving machines or equipment
that could cause probable injury from inadvertent
starting?
Is each motor disconnecting switch or circuit break-er
located within sight of the motor control device?
Is each motor located within sight of its controller or
the controller disconnecting means capable of being
locked in the open position or is a separate discon-necting
means installed in the circuit within sight of
the motor?
Is the controller for each motor in excess of 2 horse-power
rated in horsepower equal to or in excess of
the rating of the motor it serves?
Are employees who regularly work on or around
energized electrical equipment or lines instructed in
cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR)?
Are employees prohibited from working alone on
energized lines or equipment over 600 volts?
Noise
Does every area in the workplace have a continuous
noise level that does not exceed 85 dBA?
Is there an ongoing preventive health program to
educate employees in safe levels of noise, exposures,
effects of noise on their health and the use of personal
protection?
Have work areas where noise levels make voice
communication between employees difficult been
identified and posted?
Are noise levels being measured using a sound level
meter or octave band analyzer and are records being
kept?
Have engineering controls been used to reduce
excessive noise levels? Where engineering controls
are determined to not be feasible, are administrative
controls ( such as worker rotation) being used to
minimize individual employee exposure to noise?
Is approved hearing protective equipment ( noise
attenuating devices) available to every employee
working in noisy areas?
Have you tried isolating noisy machinery from the
rest of your operation?
If you use ear protectors, are employees properly fit-ted
and instructed in their use?
Are employees in high noise areas given periodic
audiometric testing to ensure that you have an effec-tive
hearing protection system?
Fueling
Is it prohibited to fuel an internal combustion engine
with a flammable liquid while the engine is running?
Are fueling operations done in such a manner that
likelihood of spillage will be minimal?
When spillage occurs during fueling operations, is
the spilled fuel washed away completely, evaporat-ed,
or other measures taken to control vapors before
restarting the engine?
Are fuel tank caps replaced and secured before start-ing
the engine?
In fueling operations, is there always metal contact
between the container and the fuel tank?
Are fueling hoses of a type designed to handle the
specific type of fuel?
Is it prohibited to handle or transfer gasoline in open
containers?
Are open lights, open flames, or sparking or arcing
equipment prohibited near fueling or transfer of fuel
operations?
Is smoking prohibited in the vicinity of fueling oper-ations?
Are fueling operations prohibited in buildings or
other enclosed areas that are not specifically venti-lated
for this purpose?
Where fueling or transfer of fuel is done through a
gravity flow system, are the nozzles of the self- clos-ing
type?
Identification of Piping Systems
When nonpotable water is piped through a facility,
are outlets or taps posted to alert employees that it is
unsafe and not to be used for drinking, washing or
other personal use?
When hazardous substances are transported through
above ground piping, is each pipeline identified at
points where confusion could introduce hazards to
employees?
When a pipeline is identified by color painting, are
all visible parts of the line so identified?
When pipelines are identified by color painted bands
or tapes, are the bands or tapes located at reasonable
intervals and at each outlet, valve or connection?
When pipelines are identified by color, is the color
code posted at all locations where confusion could
introduce hazards to employees?
30
When the contents of pipelines are identified by
name or name abbreviation, is the information readi-ly
visible on the pipe near each valve or outlet?
When pipelines carrying hazardous substances are
identified by tags, are the tags constructed of
durable materials, the message carried clearly and
permanently distinguishable, and are tags installed
at each valve or outlet?
When pipelines are heated by electricity, steam or
another external source, are suitable warning signs
or tags placed at unions, valves or other serviceable
parts of the system?
Materials Handling
Is there safe clearance for equipment through aisles
and doorways?
Are aisleways designated, permanently marked and
kept clear to allow unhindered passage?
Are motorized vehicles and mechanized equipment
inspected daily or before use?
Are vehicles shut off and brakes set before loading
or unloading?
Are containers of combustibles or flammables, when
stacked while being moved, always separated by
dunnage sufficient to provide stability?
Are dock boards ( bridge plates) used when loading
or unloading operations are taking place between
vehicles and docks?
Are trucks and trailers secured from movement dur-ing
loading and unloading operations?
Are dock plates and loading ramps constructed and
maintained with sufficient strength to support
imposed loading?
Are hand trucks maintained in safe operating condition?
Are chutes equipped with sideboards of sufficient
height to prevent the materials being handled from
falling off?
Are chutes and gravity roller sections firmly placed
or secured to prevent displacement?
At the delivery end of the rollers or chutes, are pro-visions
made to brake the movement of the handled
materials?
Are pallets inspected before being loaded or moved?
Are hooks with safety latches or other arrangements
used when hoisting materials so that slings or load
attachments will not accidentally slip off the hoist
hooks?
Are securing chains, ropes, chockers or slings ade-quate
for the job to be performed?
When hoisting material or equipment, are provisions
made to ensure no one will be passing under the sus-pended
loads?
Are material safety data sheets available to employ-ees
handling hazardous substances?
Transporting Employees and Materials
Do employees who operate vehicles on public
thoroughfares have valid operator’s licenses?
When seven or more employees are regularly trans-ported
in a van, bus or truck, is the operator’s license
appropriate for the class of vehicle being driven?
Is each van, bus or truck used regularly to transport
employees equipped with an adequate number of seats?
When employees are transported by truck, are provi-sions
provided to prevent their falling from the vehicle?
Are vehicles used to transport employees equipped
with lamps, brakes, horns, mirrors, windshields and
turn signals in good repair?
Are transport vehicles provided with handrails, steps,
stirrups or similar devices, so placed and arranged
that employees can safely mount and dismount?
Are employee transport vehicles equipped at all
times with at least two reflective type flares?
Is a fully charged fire extinguisher, in good condi-tion,
with at least a 4 B: C rating maintained in each
employee transport vehicle?
When cutting tools or tools with sharp edges are car-ried
in passenger compartments of employee transport
vehicles, are they placed in closed boxes or containers
that are secured in place?
Are employees prohibited from riding on top of any
load that can shift, topple or otherwise become
unstable?
Control of Harmful Substances by Ventilation
Is the volume and velocity of air in each exhaust
system sufficient to gather the dusts, fumes, mists,
vapors or gases to be controlled and to convey them
to a suitable point of disposal?
Are exhaust inlets, ducts and plenums designed,
constructed and supported to prevent collapse or
failure of any part of the system?
Are clean- out ports or doors provided at intervals
not to exceed 12 feet in all horizontal runs of
exhaust ducts?
31
Are proper safeguards taken to ensure that where
two or more different types of operations are being
controlled through the same exhaust system, the
combination of substances being controlled do not
constitute a fire, explosion or chemical reaction
hazard in the duct?
Is adequate makeup air provided to areas where
exhaust systems are operating?
Is the source point for makeup air located so that
only clean, fresh air, which is free of contaminants,
will enter the work environment?
Where two or more ventilation systems are serving a
work area, is their operation such that one will not
offset the function of the other?
Sanitizing Equipment and Clothing
Is personal protective clothing or equipment that
employees are required<